What tonearm is recommended for the denon 103r

I'd like to follow up on my earlier post re: the DL103R and the 2.2. This combo did work well and even better with the added mass of the headshell weight. Compliments to the Graham for being able to adjust for this with ease.

If it had so happened that I was down to the DL103R as being the last MC cart available to me, and I happened to just have the 2.2, it would have been just fine. No complaints with that pairing.

I just think it's an odd partnership due to the different costs involved. For instance if someone were thinking of the DL103 in terms of an arm/cart upgrade of their more or less entry level vinyl rig, the Graham tonearm wouldn't be on that map. Too expensive. On the other hand, if one is already at hand, then that's different.

Also Viridian points out something important. Lots of folks look at the spec sheet that comes with the Denon. All of it in Japanese language. And we see this:
xxxxx 5x10-6 cm/dyne (100hz xxxxx) The x's are in place of Japanese figures.

Many have assumed that this text means that the compliance figure of 5x10-6 cm/dyne means a compliance of 5. Wow, that's a really stiff cantilever, right!?

It's not really. It means that the reading is taken at 100 hz rather than the more usual 8 - 12 hz that we test for using test records while observing cantilever shake.

Like I noted above, with the headshell weight on the Graham I got a lateral arm/cart resonance to happen at 10 hz using the hfnrr test record. This would indicate a very different compliance figure than 5. All it means is that the Denon published measurement is taken using a different test procedure and even more importantly that the cartridge --can be partnered-- with quite a few medium to high mass tonearms that are out there.

Currently I've got one on an arm with a rated effective mass of 16g. With this arm (Zeta) the arm/cart resonance happens at 10hz. That's pretty well in the zone for this cartridge and it sounds great. Dynamic, detailed and slammy. Just right for the TD124, I think.

-Steve

Also, keep in mind that in the compliance equation:

Res Freq = 1 / [ 2* pi * sqrt (M*C) ]

Mass and compliance affect the outcome by their square root, so 16g does not have 1.6 time the effect of 10g on the resonant frequency.

We're talking about fine tuning in this discussion and not of orders of magnitude. Of course, people participating in this thread are looking for small but significant effects.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

What I've noticed in mass tuning a rega tonearm for the DL103-R is that in order to gain a full point hz reduction (1 hz) in arm/cart res I had to increase mass at the headshell by 7.5g. Which is approximately 68% of the arms original effective mass rating.

I expect that this could be roughly applied to any tonearm. If you want to lower the arm/cart resonant frequency by 1 full hz it takes the tonearm's rated effective mass plus the addition of 68% of that rated mass in additional weight over the headshell. Sound about right?

Incidentally I ended up adding an another 25g of weight to the counterweight (an Expressimo) in order to balance the the arm.

Results were easy to hear. The DL-103R sounded more liquid with warmer mids, better defined details/inner-details and frequency extension. It was an obvious improvement and told me what I needed to know about the DL-103R. It needs more than a medium mass tonearm to work its best.

link to article: http://www.theanalogdept.com/dl_rb.htm

-Steve

Forget Triplanar and the like, you have to go with an arm that has high effective mass. I have real experience with many arms and the 103R, including Triplanar, Audiocraft 4400, Micro-Seiki Max 282, Sony PUA 1600L, Lustre GST 801, SME V, and Fidelity FR64x but the winner by far was the Ikeda 407.

In this arm the 103R comes alive and for me the paradox was that this was the only cartridge that this arm seemed really happy with, including other low compliance carts such as Koetsu. I sold the Ikeda because I never could get it to sing with anything other than the 103R and this was clearly an economic mismatch.

The performance of the 103R is equally defined by the impedance loading and either you use one of Denon's step-up transformers or something that that has a 40 ohm impedance load. If you put a 103R straight into a phono stage without transformers, the cartridge will be nice and tubey, but lacking in sparkle and detail that it is truly capable of.

The Denon is a giant killer no doubt for the price, but, IMHO it is not the final word either. It cannot compare to the likes of a ZYX for transparency and impact, nor to the likes of a Sony Xl-55 for slam, or to a Miyabi for tone and emotion.

In my collection I really admire the 103R for being sublime and faithful to old jazz albums. mono recordings and classics from the 60's. I use it on my SP-10 Mk2 and despite the trade offs, I always find it delivers a satisfying performance. There is no perfect cartridge / arm combo, so I just accept that the 103R is not the total panacea, but it does have a place in my playback system and you have to respect the product and the audio design and engineering that went into it and still makes it a competitive offering. Currently I use it on my Audiocraft 4400 with a heavy AS tonearm - but it will be going for a Soundsmith re-tip shortly.

Too many people use the cartridge outside of the operating parameters it is designed for and hence many opinions on its performance and capability are inaccurate (but not on this thread).

Having just found some old brochures from my archives, the Denon tonearms from the mid 70's were designed with the 103 series of cartridges. Tonearms are DA 304,305,307,308,309,and 401. Extraordinarily difficult to find today. These were s-shaped wands with EIA headshell. Also the Technics EPA 100 original issue with ruby bearings with titanium nitride tonearm tube, works very well with the 103 Denons. The Techincs EPA 100 is rare now and very pricey if you can find one.

Denon 103 that will work with these tone arms are 103/103S/103D/103U/103 Gold/103LC and 103 Pro. That takes the 103 line up to 1985. Although in my opinion the 103R with its specifications will work as well.

A few years ago a Denon DP61F turntable came through here with a 103R installed and sounded wonderful. However I did try the 103R on a Rega RB 250 tonearm with less than stellar results, so put the 103R back on the Denon DP61F and was used until it sold and current user is still using it that way some 3 years later.

Just food for thought in one search to maximize the use of the venerable Denon 103 range of cartridges.