Technics SL-23 TT opinions.. mated with Denon DL-103?


I was looking through Craigslist and found a Technics SL-23 for sale for $150.00.  Would this be a good table to mount a Denon DL-103?
coachpoconnor

Showing 3 responses by lewm

Who here mentioned using a Black Widow with a low compliance cartridge?

But just in case, keep in mind that the mass of the cartridge is added to the effective mass of the tonearm. Since most low compliance cartridges are heavier than most high compliance cartridges, such an apparent bad idea might actually work ok.
Another factor at work to mitigate mismatching is the equation for resonant frequency. It’s inversely proportional to the square root of M*C. Once you take the square root of the product, big differences in M andC are ameliorated.
I have very successfully run an Acutex cartridge, with stated compliance of 42, in a Fidelity Research FR64S (high mass) tonearm using a 10g headshell.  (The original FR64S headshells were much heavier and only added further to the high effective mass of these tonearms.) I listened to that combo for months on end, and it always sounded great, with no hint of a problem with bass frequencies.  One reason for this result, in my opinion, is the age of the NOS Acutex; I doubt it exhibits the compliance originally spec'd for it because of stiffening of its suspension.  But I also take that to indicate that the compliance spec for most cartridges is an approximation at best, due to sample to sample variability in the construction of any cartridge.  Like Uber said, there's no harm in trying.
It’s a simple matter to turn a low or medium mass tonearm into a high mass one; just add weight at the headshell. For $150 it’s worth a shot. I would not be intimidated by the apparent mismatch between a 12g tonearm and a Denon DL103. If after adding 5-10g of weight to the headshell there is a problem with inadequate counterweight, that can also be addressed by sticking some bluetack to the CW. (Try it with no added headshell mass first and then add mass incrementally.) Have fun. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.