Denon 103 thread

I'm about to buy one. What version is the one to go? 103, 103R, 103 Pro? What are the differences and are they worth of extra money, given that the vinyl source will be the second priority in my rig - I am reviving it more for a nostalgia reason but I want to make it sounds as good as possible.

Also anyone knows how does 103 cope with a silver tonearm wiring?

It will play with Stabi 2/Stogi (older version)/Heed Questar/Denon AU320 SUT.

Cheers!

 

Denon 103 High output MC Cart.

Hi Anubisgrau -

As I understand it, this is a high output MC cart. It seems to have 140 ohm coils whereas most MC carts are in the 5 ohm or lets call it sub-10 ohm range. What this says to me is that most MC carts have coils that are only a few turns, hence their low outputs. If indeed the Denon 103's coiuls are 15 to 30 times as massive, or to put it another way if a typical MC has a pair of 10 turn coils, the Denon 103, all other things being equal, may have 250 turns of wire in each of its coils. Or the wire is super thin and by design has higher resistance than one would expect. Either way, its appears to have a whole lot of mass on one end of that cantilever to get moving, and hopefully a rather small and suitable diamond mass of the record end. So this situation could easily could account for the need to use something around 2.25g or 2.5 g VTF when using this cart.

Now I'm not gonna say that playing once or twice at 2.5 grams will rip the vinyl to shreds, but on the other side of the spectrum, most over $50. list price MM carts after 1970 were rated for 3/4g to 1.5g VTF for proper tracking, regardless of manufacturer. The ADC's, and MA's, and Shure's, and B&O's, and so on could track at 1.0g or 1.25 g respectively.

As TT's got better and arms became less massive, improved their internal friction in the bearings, one became more and more able to track those same 3/4g to 1.5g cartridges at 0.8g or perhaps even 0.7g without the stylus rattling around in the groove or increasing distortion in the inner grooves. Obviously, going too low could increase record wear, and so 0.5g may not be the solution, except for those high $$ carts which state that they are "really rated" for it in the best of arms.

While the difference between 1.25g and 2.25g of VTF seems small, even insignificant, and would tend to pale in comparison with the other more important choices like: conical, elliptical, or shibata tip geometry, or price... is it really so insignificant? That extra gram or so, is rarely analyzed for what it really translates to. So, in conclusion, does one really want to subject the walls of a vinyl groove to more than 2g of pressure, understanding that this really translates to thousands of lbs. / Kg. per square inch, due to the extremely small stylii contact area of modern ellipticals? Wait, a few thousand extra lbs. or Kg... So maybe not so insignificant.

Well it is something to consider, and me, if my equipment was good enough to track my old MM carts at 0.5g, I would probably do it. But in my reality, where most people still work for a living, pay rent, and eat pizza, I'm using a (circa 1973) B&O cartridge at a nominal 1.25g in a Japanese CF Arm (that I drilled and mounted onto an even older vintage AR-XA). This is unchanged for more than 10 years. At that time, it was a 20+ y/o cartridge and now it is over 30+ y/o. I have plenty of other cartridges, I just happen to prefer the sonic of this one as long as it still works properly.

The Denon 103 in at least one of its various versions has been praised for having a nice sonic presentation, and all that. So, if you have heard it, in a TT similar to yours, in a system also somewhat comparable to your own, and if that is the sonic that you like, then do buy it. Its highly unlikely that any of that wire nonsense should affect your decision either way, and rather unlikely that someone else would have the same combination of components and wires as in yours (and also a Denon 103).

Decisions, decisions! Deciding what is the ultimate sonic worth of a given component and its interactions both positive and negative with your other existing stuff can only be your decision alone. Perhaps the contraindications and consequences of a rather high tracking force are less offensive to you, yet there are other possible cartridge alternatives. Once you answer that, you have a decision.


-Steven L. Bender, Designer of Vintage Audio Equipment

 

You might find the 103 is a low output cart m8

 

It's a lovely sounding cart, and I wouldn't worry about the tracking weight. I ran a 103, and whilst it isn't as good as the Lyra I run now, it only costs about 20% of what the Lyra does!
I can't think of a better way of spending a hundred quid on a cart. The only issue is end of side distortion, and I only noticed that on one or two records, usually where they'd tried to squeeze too much on. The worst offender was a Shostokovich Piano Concerto.
Buy it without fear!

By the way it is low output, the bog standard 103 likes to be loaded at 100 ohms, the 103 pro at 470 ohms. Neither will give of their best unless you get the loading right at the phono stage.

 

Funny I had a DL103 for a short time and never got on with it, ok for the price but easily bettered by the Dorian in my setup.

I've since spoken to a couple of people who love the DL103 and stated that the reason I didn't get along with it was due to me loading it at 100 Ohms, as they say it really wants to be in 220 Ohm region.

I have no experience of this or whether it is better sounding running in to 220 Ohms, just what I was told while chatting to DL103 owners.

I used to have a DL304 which is a lovely cart.