I have had some old denons eg 301 in the 80's and loved them. Recently I came back to Denon with a 103R I never found anything to get excited about until I put the 103R in an Ikeda 407 and then WOW .... suddenly the stiff cantilever and low compliance cart in conjunction with the heavy mass arm made a huge difference. The bass went from wooly to solid, the mids were crisp and the top end extended. Soundstage can be a strength as it is focused, but a weakness in that it is not very wide. Anyway, in a high mass arm you get the best out of the Denon and in a arm suited to mid compliance carts the performance is just OK. I doubt the Graham 2.2 is the best match, even with damping.
What tonearms work with denon 103r?
Just received the 103r and it's still breaking in, but wondering how good can it get? I am using the graham 2.2 with some tweeks. It is too early to say but the grado circa $100 before the denon sounded better even though it was grainy. Should I add more mass to the arm? Not at liberty to spend a fortune on the arm just yet.