Just aquired a Denon HA-1000 headamp, falling in love with DL301mk2 again

Hi everyone

I just recently aquired a Denon HA-1000 headamp in very good condition. It has completely breathed new life into my Denon DL301mk2 which never worked quite right with the SUT I had and was also a bit underwhelming with the phono board in my BAT VK20.

Back in 2019 I picked up a beautiful Luxman CL-34 preamp with a full set of low hour Matsushita tubes. I love the CL34 so much more than the VK20, but it's phono stage is MM only. I was running my Victor/JVC Z1 with jico SAS-S stylus mainly for the last couple years but I realized recently that stylus is near the end. About a month ago I went back to my Denon DL110. Now with the Denon HA-1000  I am in love with the DL301mk2 . I forgot how much I love these Denon cartridges and the HA-1000 makes the DL301mk2 so much better now.

The DL301mk2, HA-1000, CL34 is really glorious and it’s a shame the DL301mk2 doesn’t get more love when it is such a great cartridge. For me the DL301mk2 has the PRAT of the DL110 but so much more refined and holographic and really gives that in-the-room sensation it makes me catch my breath at times. It really gives an almost perfect presentation of cymbals, violins, oboes, flutes, yet also very viceral bass and very realistic pianos. Bass is deeper and more powerful than the Z1/SAS too which surprised me. DL110 might still be the best for bass and dynamic excitement though of the cartridges in my collection. I also have some Grado and AudioTechnicas which just have never clicked with me like the Z1/SAS and DL110 and now DL301mk2 have.

I also love the DL110 which is such a fun cartridge and so good with Jazz or Pop/Rock when I don’t need that extra refinement. It is so good at conveying the emotion of a performance and surprisingly good image placement, separation,width and depth. I guess I just love the Denon family.

But now I’m starting to realize my system might be capable of even better cartridges. In general I’ve avoided the >$1000 cartridges since I don’t make that much money and cartridges have a limited lifespan. I don’t want to go too crazy but I’m starting to think about a step up the MC food chain now that I have the HA-1000 just to see what might be there.

Since I live in Japan the obvious choices are Dynavector and Phasemation, but Ortofon is also popular here and pretty easy to get. The ones I am considering (and hope to get a chance to listen to in a shop soon) are
Dynavector 20x2L (115,000yen)
Phasemation PP-200 (92,000yen)
Phasemation PP-300 (actually cheap in Japan around 134,000yen or $1100)
Ortofon Quintent Bronze aka Q20 in Japan (73,000yen)
Ortofon Cadenza Red (140,000yen)

A friend suggeted I might not like the ortofon family sound since I love the dynamics and PRAT of the denons so much. He described the ortofon family sound as buttoned up, prim&proper, highly competent, a bit emotionally restrained. Not sure if he is perfectly correct but it does make me think I might not love them.

If anyone has experience with the Denon DL301mk2 or DL110 and could comment on the Dynavector or Phasemation cartridges or others I would love to hear your thoughts. I don’t want to loose too much of the PRAT and dynamics I get with the Denons but a little more refinement and holography would be cool for the mostly classical and jazz I listen too. I might also just pick up a DL103 since I’ve never owned one. Not sure I will like it, but I am willing to take a chance since I love the other Denons.

cheers Jessica