Take a rega

why a quad preamp? well, i still need some decent switching or i'll kill a second 909. i could always get a separate phono stage as well?

i'm happy to try a denon cart and see any improvements - this is not a digital / analogue debate but comparing paul simons 'the boy in the bubble' last night even with the regas limitations, the cd's vocal were cold and sillhouetted compared to the full warm vocals on vinyl. this was a huge difference and may have been a recording issue though but i'd like to get a fair comparison between a decent vinyl sound and a decent cd sound before i start buying more software.

the rega is well supported on an mdf target wall shelf with an extra layer of squash balls and toughened glass.

 

a deep fascination of the denon range is growing.
apart from the dl110, there is also the 103,103r and 304. they too seem to have people jumping up and down on their sofas during school nights - and they're all within a limited price range

has anyone been able to compare or listened to/owned any of them?

 

I use a 110 and a buddy has the 103. His is on a Planar 3, mines on a P25, and my ears prefer the 110. Just has a bit more life about it, tracks better, and after a rega cart its a revelation.
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Portable marijuana vaporizer

 

Some people rate the denon dl304 amongst the best cartridges yet it is only £100 more than the dl110. personally, I have not heard either and would not know which would suit the low mass RB300, or if there were any other considerations such as stylus proflile and output mV.

help!

 

One thing to keep in mind with all of the Denons is that Denon publish compliance figures measured at 100Hz. The standard measurement used in resonance calcs (and issued by almost everyone else) are at 10Hz. That means that the "real" compliance figures are going to be higher.

Put another way Denon cartridges aren't as low compliance as a lot of people think they are and so are suitable for rather lighter arms than many might assume.

I've only ever had a chance to actually test is a DL-160 on an RB250, but using an HFN test record, it would appear to have a compliance of 16 to 18µm/mN as against the published figure of 10µm/mN. Which with its mass incidentally makes it an ideal match to an RB250.

PS. I wouldn't have called any of the Regas low mass .. medium mass definitely.