Grand Prix Monaco review in new Stereophile- OUCH

11-15-07: Jaybo
A DP 1300mkII.. big brother of the 500m..its only being sold in japan at the moment, but can be exported through several retailers, and is coming officially to the states in 2008. an interesting return for denon to a competitive high end table, and inexpensive relative to just about everything.

I've found a couple of listings for this turntable, one at AudiocubesII and another on eBay from a vendor in Japan. I notice from the specs that the unit weighs about 10 lbs. more than the DP 500M, and the tonearm is 244mm vs. 230 for the DP 500M.

Does anyone know what else accounts for the DP-1300mkII's 3-times-the-price of the DP-500M?

The tonearm is also dual-gimbal S-shaped with detachable headshell, but is longer. Any other info on how it might be different? Damped? Optimized for today's low-medium compliance cartridges?

I'll bet this turntable with the Zu Audio DL-103 cartridge would just KILL!

Maybe Denon is taking the true audiophile path and differentiating the turntable on price alone.
:-)

I know from your smiley face that you're kidding, but there may be some substantial differences for the 1300 to weigh 10 lbs more than the 500.

In English, here are the specs for the DP 500M at Needledoctor: http://www.needledoctor.com/Denon-DP-500M-Turntable?sc=2&category=348

And here are the specs for the DP-1300mkII at AudioCubes II: http://www.audiocubes2.com/category/Turntables/product/Denon_DP-1300MKII_Analog_Turntable.html

As you can see, the 1300's arm is 14mm (.6") longer and the turntable's overall weight is 4.5KG (9.9 lbs) heavier. I'm hoping that the arm is a newer design to accommodate today's cartridges. It definitely uses a different counterweight. The extra length should reduce tracking angle a bit. If you look closely at the pictures of the two, the arm base on the 1300 is further away from the platter.

It also appears that the 1300 has a nicer wood veneer finish with a more prominent grain and chamfered edges and corners.