VPI Classic---Denon 103 won't fit on arm??


I was all ready to order a VPI Classic turntable from Music Direct, but then last night I read a comment on audiokarma that the Denon 103 cartridge cannot be mounted on the JMW 10.5i arm because the pins interfere with the back of the headshell or some such thing---does anyone know anything about this? I'm having a hard time believing this, but I want to be sure. I own a Denon 103R, currently mounted on a Rega P25. I'm going to give Music Direct a call and see what they say, but any info from you guys is appreciated, thanks.
will_herrera

Showing 1 response by br3098

After reading many of the posts and rave reviews for the DL-103 family last year I decided to mount a DL-103R on my original VPI Aries TT w/ JMW 10 arm. Compliance?... I don't need no stinkin' compliance! It sounded very good, but I eventually discovered that it tracked best at over 2.5g.

After 6 months I realized that as good as I thought the Denon cart was, I was missing much of the weight and rhythm I was used to hearing. I reinstalled my old Grado The Reference at 1.4g and it was better. Certainly not as open and detailed as the Denon but just a better for for the arm, IMHO.

I'm not saying that the Grado is the best cartridge for this arm (it is not); just that to my ears it was a better fit for my JMW arm than the 103R. I am going to be ordering a pair of Soundsmith cartridges from Peter soon and we'll see how that goes.