Best MC cartridge for the money. Which do you prefer?

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Best MC cartridge for the money. Which do you prefer?

Postby arnoldc » Mon Feb 17, 2003 1:30 pm

i've been contemplating on getting the Denon DL103 MC cartridge which is affordable for its price.

what are your choices?
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Postby ambel » Mon Feb 17, 2003 4:21 pm

For it's price and performance the Denon DL103 is really hard to beat.
Here's the list of cartridges that I am using right now Shelter 501 II,
Koetsu Black, Denon DL103, DL103D, Grado Reference Platinum, and
Grado MCZ. The ones that I borrowed and compared Benz Micro Ruby
2, Glider 2, Lyra Helicon, and Koetsu Rosewood Signature.
If I've got the moolah I will go for the Koetsu Rosewood Signature
the mids are killer but I play a lot of vinyls so I need to retip every
2 years or so.
But I settled for the Shelter 501 II a little bit analytical closer to the
Lyra in sound but the price is just right compared to the Helicon. The
Shelter is my reference right now.
The Benz Ruby 2 the mids are a littel bit on the sweet side but it lacks
the excitement of the Lyra and Shelter.
The Grado's are MM so it's not a serious contender.
But Denon's are my workhorse very good value you forget that these
carts are cheap. I can play a lot of vinyls with these and you don't
care about the cost of replacing them. The DL103D is more open and
extended in the highs. The only thing is you need to have a very
good step up MC transformer. A good one is the Altec 15095A, or
4722 these are mic input transformer or the Tamura input transformer.
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Postby arnoldc » Mon Feb 17, 2003 4:54 pm

hi ambel, what's the difference between 103, 103R and 103D. there is also a 103 pro on the www.eifl.com site.

thanks!
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Postby ambel » Tue Feb 18, 2003 2:33 am

The most sought after is the D which is more refine, extended, and
open. The main difference is the upper frequency compared to the
regular 103. I have not tried the R.
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Postby Hyperion » Tue Feb 18, 2003 11:43 am

ambel,

Ever tried Dynavector cartridges? My friend has a DV10x4 mkII and it seems to sound musical and versatile, and not fussy with VTA. Thinking of going the Dynavector route, used with either Notts or Avid turntable and Origin Live RB250 tonearm.

What is your analog front end and phono stage right now?
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Postby ambel » Tue Feb 18, 2003 12:14 pm

I have not tried the Dynavectors yet.
Here's my TT set-up
1. Acoustic Signature Analog One with Graham 2.0 arm
I've got 2 arm wand with the Shelter 501 II and Denon 103D cart.
2. Manticore Mantra with Manticore Arm/Denon 103/Koetsu Black cart.
3. Sonographe SG-3 with MMT II arm/Grado MCZ and Reference
Signature.
I used the phono section of the CAT SL-1 Signature but right now
It's my DIY phono using RCA 5691 for the RIAA eq. I used several
step-up transformer LUX A-6 forthe Shelter and Koetsu. Altec/Peerless
for the Denon. The Acoustic Signature is sitting in the Townsend Seismic
sink and Cardas Phono box. All cables are DIY silver.
Right now I like TT that are not suspended. I heard the entire Nottingham
line from the Anna Log, Hyperspace, Space Deck, Interspace and the
Horizon last winter CES. they are impressive and I'm planning to get
the Space Deck TT but with SME IV arm.
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Re: Best MC cartridge for the money. Which do you prefer?

Postby XLR_silver » Tue Feb 18, 2003 2:18 pm

arnoldc wrote:i've been contemplating on getting the Denon DL103 MC cartridge which is affordable for its price.

what are your choices?


hi arnoldc!

puede bang sumabay sa'yo pagbili mo ng dl103? where do you plan to get one?

thanks! :D
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Postby corrsty » Tue Feb 18, 2003 2:44 pm

arnold, how much is the 103 in EIFL?
thanks.
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Postby arnoldc » Tue Feb 18, 2003 3:07 pm

check www.eifl.co.jp and click English
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denon

Postby XLR_silver » Tue Feb 18, 2003 4:00 pm

arnoldc wrote:check www.eifl.co.jp and click English


sir sent you a PM

thanks!
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Postby Racio » Tue Feb 18, 2003 6:20 pm

corrsty wrote:arnold, how much is the 103 in EIFL?
thanks.


Got this from that EIFL site:

DENON DL-102 SD (SP) $160
DENON DL-102 (LP/MONO) $150
DENON DL-103 (LP/STEREO) $200
DENON DL-103R (LP/STEREO) $250
DENON DL-103PRO (LP/STEREO) $350

Dude, would you know if 2juki also carries 'em Denons?
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Postby corrsty » Wed Feb 19, 2003 10:48 am

dude, i don't think juki carries the denons. but if you really want the denon at a lower price than eifl, go to http://www.phonophono.de/english/html/denon_katalog.html

If you guys are buying, then get me one as well. :)
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Postby vintage_dog » Wed Feb 19, 2003 9:34 pm

sabit din ako sa group-buy ng denon....
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Postby stjohn » Thu Feb 20, 2003 12:56 pm

cartridge choice is probably one of the most personal decision you can make in this hobby, ahh, passion. . . not considering matching cartridge with the type of arm you have (arm mass & cartridge compliance goes together). . .

i'm a believer of 'system approach' to make my life easier, and my choices simpler. . . by which i mean if an arm manufacturer also make cartridges, then go for theirs. Example: Dynavector makes cartridges, then your choice is simple and limited by your pocket. AQ gets AQ, and so on... unfortunately (or fotunately) there are only few arm manufacturers who also make cartridges.

If you'd rather mix-and-match, then your on for surprises, wether good or bad. . . you'll soon find out :)

whatever floats your boat :wink:

my 5c.
egay
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Postby XLR_silver » Thu Feb 20, 2003 2:52 pm

stjohn wrote:cartridge choice is probably one of the most personal decision you can make in this hobby, ahh, passion. . . not considering matching cartridge with the type of arm you have (arm mass & cartridge compliance goes together). . .

i'm a believer of 'system approach' to make my life easier, and my choices simpler. . . by which i mean if an arm manufacturer also make cartridges, then go for theirs. Example: Dynavector makes cartridges, then your choice is simple and limited by your pocket. AQ gets AQ, and so on... unfortunately (or fotunately) there are only few arm manufacturers who also make cartridges.

If you'd rather mix-and-match, then your on for surprises, wether good or bad. . . you'll soon find out :)

whatever floats your boat :wink:

my 5c.
egay
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hi stjohn!

i agree with the "system approach." why don't we have a trial-and-error session on different cart, arm and deck, etc. combinations?

ambel, what do you match the 103d with?

on second thought, if what i heard about the dl103 is true, you will have to shell out around $500 more for other brands that promise the same sonic quality that the 103 has to offer. if i go for those, i may not be able to enrol my kids for the coming school year :oops:
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Postby stjohn » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:29 pm

trial & trial session - I think this is a good idea so we can have an excuse of getting together for the sake of music :D

seriously, i support this idea, but the challenge will be logistics... and then there's this chance of one sounding good on this arm but poor on the other. my thumbrule is this: heavy arms sound good with low compliant cartridges and vise versa (or was it the other way around :shock: ). . . the exercise might yield surprising results!
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Postby arnoldc » Thu Feb 20, 2003 4:30 pm

i don't see any reason why i should not mix and match (read: best of breed) if i can get satisfying results with different brands. is it a guarantee that going all clearaudio for example will better those with best of breed components? is a dynavector arm AND cartridge always a guarantee on any turntable?
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Postby ambel » Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:07 am

You mix and match according to your taste. That's why this hobby is
subjective. Discovering things that work for you is part of the magic.
There are guidelines but you break away from this.
And taking this course would be very expensive but taking hints
from seasoned audiophile would alleviate this process.
The reason that I am recommending the Denon 103 is basically the
price performance range you cannot beat this cartridge for $175.
And this thing works on a lot of arms from my Graham 2.0, Manticore
arm, Sumiko MMT. My buddy SME 309, Rega 300B.
I love to use the 103 because i play a lot of records and it does not
hurt the pocket when it comes retipping time.
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Postby XLR_silver » Tue Mar 04, 2003 5:22 pm

stjohn wrote:trial & trial session - I think this is a good idea so we can have an excuse of getting together for the sake of music :D

seriously, i support this idea, but the challenge will be logistics... and then there's this chance of one sounding good on this arm but poor on the other. my thumbrule is this: heavy arms sound good with low compliant cartridges and vise versa (or was it the other way around :shock: ). . . the exercise might yield surprising results!


to simplify things, i suggest that the session(s) begins with the denon cartridge first. we can begin matching it with more common and more affordable decks like technics (and their stock arms) then progressively move to less common decks like entry level rega planars and the tonearms that ambel mentioned. we can proceed with more sophisticated arm and deck combos as we move along...the idea behind this is that if we can hear a substantial improvement using a simple deck and arm combo with the $175 denon compared to, say, a clearaudio cartridge that costs twice as much(aurum beta or higher?) , deciding on a group buy should be a breeze.

what do you guys think? am i being too simplistic?
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Postby Noam » Fri Mar 14, 2003 5:29 am

I added my 2 cents on the Denon over in the other thread, here:
http://www.wiredstate.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2225#2225

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