Which cartridge ?

But it seems to change the caracter of the sound as many swear by the Denon DL 103R . What does have me a bit confused is the sound caracter of my Nagaoka MP 110 . Where ever you go reviews are extremely positive but on my rig its the other way around even though Chakster considers it in no way special even in the Nagaoka lineup of cartridges . 



I just ordered some Blu tack in order to try to add mass to my tonearm and see if with the added mass the Nagaoka might sound better especially in that upper midrange which on high level signals it sounds grainy , harsh and upfront , in your face if you will .

The high purity copper coils do not change the internal impedance from 40Ω to 14Ω.  The 103R has fewer turns of thicker wire and a stronger magnet to make up for the lowered output voltage from the reduction of turns.

Dave

Your right . The Denon DL 103r does have a round stylus tip and the only difference is the high purity copper coils . Thank you for correcting me . Curious that the Nagaoka being MM should have been design around a low compliance cantilevel . I understand that the Japs use a different method then others in arriving at their compliance specification and you should take this into consideration when comparing specs . This is talked about alot at the Vinyl Engine website . 

The Denon cartridges I’m referring to are the Dl 103R and the DL 110 . None of them have a conical stylus as that would be the DL 103 which does have the lower grade conical Stylus . Both DL103R and DL 110 are moving coil designs with super polished Elliptical stylus .

You’re wrong.
Denon DL103R has a CONICAL STYLUS, look at the specs here. DL103R "Stylus tip: 0.02 mm special round solid diamond"
all styli are polished.

The difference between 103 and 103R is ONLY the 99.9999% high purity (6N) copper coils wire inside the "R" version. This is why 103R is better, but the stylus is Conical @mcmvmx

Some have stipulated that the Nagaoka even though being a MM design its cantilever is really low compliance and not medium or high as some think it to be .

It is a low compliance for MM and you can look at the specs here, and it’s an average cartridge, nothing special.
If you will look carefully you will see that the stylus tip is BONDED (not nude). It is a low grade cartridge even in Nagaoka family. Being a low compliance MM (6cu at 100Hz) it will work better on higher mass tonearm.

Denon 103R compliance is 5cu at 100hz
Nagaoka MP110 compliance is 6cu at 100Hz

They are both low compliance design for high mass tonearms.

Your Grado with higher grade stylus from 8MZ or XTZ is superior high compliance MI cartridge.

If you trust Peter at SoundSmith you have to watch his lecture where he’s hardly promote MI (Moving Iron) cartridges, you already have such MI cartridge.

With $400 budget the best you can do is to buy high-end stylus for your Grado Black body.

The Denon cartridges I'm referring to are the Dl 103R and the DL 110 . None of them have a conical stylus as that would be the DL 103 which does have the lower grade conical Stylus . Both DL103R and DL 110 are moving coil designs with super polished Elliptical stylus .

Another thing which I could do which I forgot to mentioned is send my busted Ortofon to soundsmith for retipping which as I have calculated would put me back less then 300 dollars .

I must confess still being surprise at how good the Grado Black sounds . And to think I've had it for over 10 years without ever hearing it just because of its very low price compared with others . 

On another note I am still scratching.my head on the Nagaoka MP110 . I was for the price expecting great performance because of all the great things said about it all over the internet .

The literture says 30 hours of breakin and right now it is past that arriving to at least the 50 hour mark . When new its sound was more or less what people described , soft , warm with tonedowned treble response but good detail and dynamics .

But upon arriving at the recommended breakin it started to change . It lost some of its warmth and adquired a more neutral caracter with better topend extensions but that topend extension was acompanied by a upfront sound at the treble with grain and harshness on high dynamic swings . 

In none of the reviews I have read on the Nagaoka MP110 have I read about this sort of sound coming from this cartridge .
Maybe its a incompatability issue between compliance and tonearm mass . Some have stipulated that the Nagaoka even though being a MM design its cantilevel is really low compliance and not medium or high as some think it to be .

 For whatever the reason I'm not happy with the way it sounds on my audio rig . Bummer , as if I would have liked it I wouldn't be searching for another cartridge after my stupidity with my Ortofon. .

After the disaster with the Ortofon I had a old Grado Black hanging around which I had never used for years . Mounted it on my turntable . It sounded very good . To my ears and taste , liked it better then the Nagaoka MP110 .

If you already have Grado BLACK then all you need is a brand new stylus from the higher model if you want upgrade the sound. With your Grado Black you can use Grado 8MZ or TXZ stylus (under $400 I believe, the XTZ is the best stylus in this series ever). Stay with Grado, with a brand new stylus it will be much better than Black. This is Moving Iron cartridge, keep using it. You have to understand that generator in Glack,Gold etc ... is the same, the different is stylus. I already asked Grado about it few years ago.

Been searching and shopping and have nailed down my options to these.
Denon DL 103R and DL 110
Audio Technica OC9 cartridge line
Ortofon Quintet Red
Grado Red3 Grado Gold3 and New Grado Timbre ....
I can go up to 400 dollars
My system is comprised of
Project 1expression2 modified ,

If you want an MC then maybe Audio-Technica, but if you have Grado Black you have to change the stylus only to make it equal to the Gold and with 8MZ or XTZ stylus is will be better than Gold.

Denon 103 is low compliance and not for your tonearm! It has a conical tip with short life-span, do not buy it!

When you’re buying MC cartridge make sure to understand who will re-tip it and how much it will cost, with conical or elliptical profile you have only 300-600 hrs before the diamond must be replaced.

With Grado you can simply buy a brand new stylus and install it yourself.

For $275 bucks the Grado Opus 3 would be my choice. It will match well with your tonearm! My friend uses it with his system and it sounds great!
https://www.4ourears.net/opus3_p/4oe-opus.htm?fromgrado=yes