I used a 103R on an FT3 for a few years and it worked well. The Denon benefits from a body change (to wood) and a higher mass arm than your FT4 but if it's sounding crappy compared to your CD player, there is something definitely wrong.
Could be improper setup on the cartridge. The remark about tracking the Denon at 2 grams above is totally off base; tracking range given by Denon is 2.2 to 2.8 and I wouldn't consider tracking a stock 103R below 2.5 and think that 2.6 is definitely THE tracking force for the cartridge.
You need very close to 60 db of gain in your phono stage with a load preferably in the 40 ohm to 100 ohm range. It's quite possible, as another poster above mentioned, that you do not have an appropriate phono stage for the cartridge.
In any event, something is wrong and it's not likely to be the Denon or your FT4.
Could be improper setup on the cartridge. The remark about tracking the Denon at 2 grams above is totally off base; tracking range given by Denon is 2.2 to 2.8 and I wouldn't consider tracking a stock 103R below 2.5 and think that 2.6 is definitely THE tracking force for the cartridge.
You need very close to 60 db of gain in your phono stage with a load preferably in the 40 ohm to 100 ohm range. It's quite possible, as another poster above mentioned, that you do not have an appropriate phono stage for the cartridge.
In any event, something is wrong and it's not likely to be the Denon or your FT4.