Jelco SA750D with Denon DL103 - Alternative headshell recommendations

[neilmacey]

Good afternoon. Its only my second post on AOS. I only received one reply to the last one so hopefully will do a bit better this time

Im going to be using a Denon DL103 in combination with Jelco SA750D tonearm and am interested to hear anyones direct experience of this combination using the standard Jelco headshell and alternative headshells priced at < £100. I am installing a pair of SL1200 MK2s in a new hifi club and need a pair of backup headshells with cartridges ready fitted in case DJ Clumsyfingers has an accident. I'm not against buying an extra pair of Jelco headshells but whilst spending the money i'd be interested to hear from anyone who has achieved a noticeable benefit from another product

Thanks in advance
Neil

[Mikeandvan]

WOw, whats the club? Bit posh for DJ use! CLubbers in for a treat.

[Stryder5]

Hi Neil,

As you're in sunny Spain, while we sit here freezing, do you really expect replies.......lol.

I've heard that that the 103 can be a little fragile, no personal experience though.

All the best Gary

[neilmacey]

I guess my last question was really boring thats why no-one replied

Its a new club in Ibiza, 150 capacity, half seating and half dance floor. Its a vinyl only club with a pair of substantially modified MK2s as the front end, Graham Slee Reflex preamps feeding into a hand built rotary mixer and Klipsch vintage range speakers all round. It's having a pair of Klipschorns as the main front of house, 2 pairs of Cornwall in the seating area and the DJ has a pair of Heresy for his monitors. The amplification will be Paul Baldwin's L10 monoblocks. The owner is a musician, he's already got a little live music club here and this is a new venture.

Re : the Denon choice - it appears to be the only cartridge on the market deemed to be 'hifi' which allows 2.5 to 2.7 g of VTF which is essential to be able to backcue a record. (When i say backcue i mean literally wind it backwards a bit, not violent scratching.). All cartridges marketed as DJ cartridges have a minimum of 3g downforce and are pretty crude with sonics that appeal to people that don't really get subtleties in music, if you know what i mean. I've made it very clear to the boss about the dangers of using such a delicate cartridge but i don't see any other option. It would be an awful compromise in this system but put a naff sounding component at the very beginning of the chain. Don't you agree? I am totally open to someone pointing out another cartridge deemed hifi which specifies 2.5g VTF

Thanks for the replies, very encouraging

[neilmacey]

Also after a search of AOS i read a thread where Marco gave a comprehensive reply to someone else asking about SA750D with Denon but the Sumiko headshell he recommends in that thread which ticks my box is no longer available unfortunately, only the much pricier ones

[Stryder5]

I really think you need a cartridge designed for the job, I don't think many "normal" hi fi cartridge suspensions will cope with backtracking, perhaps Decca.

Have a look at Grado's on this site.

http://www.juno.co.uk/dj-equipment/dj-cartridges

[Barry]

I really think you need a cartridge designed for the job, I don't think many "normal" hi fi cartridge suspensions will cope with backtracking, perhaps Decca.

Have a look at Grado's on this site.

http://www.juno.co.uk/dj-equipment/dj-cartridges

NO! - the suspension will most certainly collapse if you try to backtrack a Decca. Having said that, Decca did (and possibly still do) intoduce a variant based on the Mk. V, which used two tie-back cords. I forget what this variant was called, but can be identified by the lurid acid-yellow colour of the housing.

[Stryder5]

NO! - the suspension will most certainly collapse if you try to backtrack a Decca. Having said that, Decca did (and possibly still do) intoduce a variant based on the Mk. V, which used two tie-back cords. I forget what this variant was called, but can be identified by the lurid acid-yellow colour of the housing.

I bow to your superior knowledge, do you think a 103 is ok then?

[petrat]

Strongly suggest you use Shure SC35C cartridges ... and, yes, they are 'hi-fi'.
The Denon isn't designed for the job ... everytime you trash a cantilever/suspension, it'll be two hundred quid to replace. The replaceable stylus unit for the Shure is about one-tenth of that (£20ish)

[Barry]

Further to my post above, the DJ Decca is called the London 'Professional', and is the yellow/green coloured one shown below. It was reviewd in Hi-Fi World a couple of years ago.