MC cartridge upgrade for a Schiit Sol (Denon dl-103r) help!
Hi erivera1990,
I’m responding a little late to your post, but I purchased a DENON DL-103R recently and use it with my Schiit Mani (at a gain of 59dB). Interestingly, although it has a recommended load impedance of 100 ohms or higher for this low-output moving coil cartridge, the data sheet that came with my DL-103R shows a load impedance of 47K ohms - highlighting a 0dB flat line curve from 1K to 20K Hz (see attached). It also shows the left channel output at 0.31mV and the right channel output at 0.30mV, so apparently each cartridge has its own nuances, although the general/average output is deemed to be 0.25mV. I called DENON just to confirm if that information was correct, and was told it is. Just to make sure, I experimented with load resistive plugs at 100 ohms and 200 ohms verses the 47K ohms that was tested on the data sheet provided with my cartridge. And, sure enough, the cartridge sounded much better, much more "alive" (it had a wider dynamic range and sound stage) at 47K ohms. To make the soundstage even better, I purchased a Sbooster BOTW AC16VAC Power Supply. By the way, Mike Moffat, from Schiit Audio, also says he uses the DL 103R (and the DL 110) with his Schiit Mani for daily spinnin’: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-mani.737555/page-4 (Post #58 of 143, page 4) So the DENON DL-103R should work fine with your Schiit Mani PROVIDED that your tonearm has a mid to high effective mass (mine is 20.61 with a 9.75-gram headshell). Another interesting thing is that I recently saw a YouTube video comparison between the DL-103R and the almost $200 more AT33SA, via a blind test. To my surprise, the DL-103R had a more dynamic soundstage, even though by all measures/specs "on paper" (including having a better stylus), the AT33SA should have been the clear winner. That goes to show that just because a cartridge has a better stylus doesn't mean it will be a "better sounding" cartridge. Obviously, a lot more factors come into play such as its construction and materials used.
Kind Regards, Shaun |
@smb1978 I don’t know why but I just noticed your notification, thank you so much for your explanation, right now I’m putting together a second stereo system, and I was looking into schiit mani 2 with a MC cartridge. |
Hi @erivera1990, I have since upgraded to the Schiit Mani 2. It is much better than the Mani 1. I re-recorded a few records with the same cartridge and headshell that I used with the Mani 1—just to see if there was any difference. There was a definite improvement in the quality of sound, particularly the soundstage (much wider) and noise level (way quieter) as the music played. Additional improvements with this model include increased gain settings, better S/N ratio and THD specs, more impedance and capacitance loading options, and low-pass filter switches. I currently have the ART9XA on a Pioneer PLX-1000 turntable I recently bought, and it sounds great with the Mani 2. Pioneer actually made a few improvements on the PLX-1000 (as of 2022). This includes a heavier turntable weight (from 28.9lbs to 32lbs), better wow flutter (from 0.1% to 0.01% or less), and a thicker rubber turntable sheet/mat. The effective tonearm mass is 12g. I plan on making some additional improvements by damping the tonearm. But, overall, I’m pleased with what I hear out of this setup. Regards, Shaun
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