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Denon DL-103 -- Was it a mistake?

I recently purchased a Denon DL-103 for my Clearaudio Emotion/Satisfy Tonearm combo. I thought it might end up sounded ok, but I'm starting to think it was not a good match. I've only put about 10 hours on it so far, so perhaps it will still smooth out a bit. But the bass seems to get muddy very easily. Can I do some things to improve the sound here?

Thanks
jwglista

Showing 2 responses by goatwuss

goatwuss
877 posts
 
Jwglista - Would it be possible to pick up another inexpensive cartridge on Audiogon, and sell the 103?

FWIW - I've owned the 103 and 103r in the past, and gotten good results with a Rega arm, which is also a bit light for the Denons.
goatwuss
877 posts
 
Hi,

"What was your setup like other than the Rega when using the 103?"

I'm not sure exactly what you mean... I was using a Rega P25 with the RB600 arm, and used both a Phonomena phono, and then switched to the built in phono in my Supratek Syrah preamp. Loaded at 100ohms.

All in all, it sounded quite good, with none of the harshness that you are encountering. Granted, this doesn't apply to you that much, because your table/arm/phono are completely different, not to mention, I highly doubt that all 103s are manufactured perfectly alike.

Hopefully you'll get better results with the Ortofon
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