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. |
I loaded up my Graham 2.2 with alot of leadshot for my denon 103r to sound good and it worked. My system is sounding it's best now. |
Any comments on phono stage as you already may know I own the ear834 modified and telefunken tubes running, and I also have the jlti. Both are very nice but as many other nuts here never satisfied. Well actually I liked my blackbird till it broke. |
Yes, I should probably add that the Rega I used with the 103r had several mods, including the TWL tweak. I thought this cartridge sounded much better on a Basis Vector than the 2.2, and, I agree with ChosenHandle, even better on a Triplanar. |
Pedrillo, I have used a stock DL103R and later a wood bodied DL103 and DL103R on a Graham 2.2 and I found it to work very well.
I found it worked best with VTF of around 2.5 and I used a lot of damping fluid. I have tried DL103's on Morch UP4, SME 3009, Scheu Classic II, RB250 & 300 found it to be the best on the Graham (by far) and worst on an the RB.
Regards
Paul |
Audiofeil - I think you are correct regarding Benz's. I've been futzing with the Ebony LP for months now, changing every parameter and it really falls short. Its not that its bad, only there are better ones - even in the Benz line that are better. Too bad. |
Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. Have fun. |
No Dan_ed, I'm already married. Regarding the Denon..I do have a good phono stage, and wonder why so many cartridges beat the pants off of the Denon. If you listen with open ears, you too will be disappointed in it. There are almost an infinite level of dynamics in real life, but Denons squash them considerably. ..and that's with one of the best phono stages and appropriate arm..just to name one disappointment |
The 103r is a great cartridge and easily smokes some of the very expensive Benz Micros (which are overrated by the way). |
Stringreen, you and Raul should get along fine. :-)
I can disprove what you've said about poor dynamics and limited bandwidth within 10 minutes of listening to my stock 103r. But it is more than just having the cartridge attached to a good arm. The phono stage must be good as well. |
To these ears, (and I've read all the gushing) I think the Denons are worth 200 dollars and nothing more. I think they have poor dynamics, are very limited in bandwidth, have stiff cantilevers, and as such to even get the best it can offer (yawn) you need to have something like an old SME. This cartridge is certainly ok, but is not the pot of gold that so many on this sight seem to think of it. |
works great with a triplanar. |
I was never satisfied with the 103r and the 2.2. Even a Rega RB300 worked better with the 103r. The 103r will sound much better on an arm that can control it better. For me the 2.2 seemed to work better with more compliant cartridges. |
Well, if you want to slum it the Rega 300/103 combo is a well-regarded classic. :) I am enjoying this now and prefer it to some arm/cart combos at 5x the price. |
