Denon 103r - is it worth the aggro?

[vinylspinner]

I’m with Tom on this one. Shelter 501 really sings on my Audio Technica ATP12 arm, good all round performance and I am more than happy with it. I have an Allnic Verito cartridge that also works with that arm.

Nigel

[paulf-2007]

You can throw all the carts known to man at it....but if they are not matched to the arm and phono/step up they will never sound how they should.

[Bigman80]

I’m with Tom on this one. Shelter 501 really sings on my Audio Technica ATP12 arm, good all round performance and I am more than happy with it. I have an Allnic Verito cartridge that also works with that arm.

Nigel

I know you do Nigel, it did come to mind but I'm a bit off its price. Also, I haven't ever heard of one 😂

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[alphaGT]

The 1010 is a tonearm of respectable mass so with a good heavy headshell and possibly some extra weight on the counterweight (I have a ring that goes round mine provided by Angus) then you should get decent performance out of a DL-103R. They are always competent, but only shine where there is enough mass in the systen to get them digging in.

However, I always think using a paratrage on a 103 doesn't ultimately work, you get more detail, but less soul. (Though it does depend on the job that was done fitting the tup and how well it's set up). Anyway I had two done at Expert, a 103 and a 103R and both disappointed. So if you do have one retipped, I would say Fritz Geiger is probably the way to go. Though to be frank, if it were me I would leave well alone - it is what it is, a good honest, reliable cartridge, a great deal at its price point. The purchase price + retip money could be spent more wisely I would suggest.

I would suggest that there are better options - Shelter 501 and Ortofon Kontrapunkt/Cadenza line both provide soul and detail (I found Non-Smoking Man's Cadenza Blue really captivating on a visit to his some months back and I owned both a 501 and a Jubilee myself at one point). I use a vintage Ortofon SPU GE (eliptical) on my 1010, with Angus's extra ring again, and it sounds fantastic.

If you really are set on going for broke on detail you could look at a Lyra, I've had a few (Helicon, Dorian, Dorian Mono, Clavis, Argo II - the Argo being the best of them in my book). Not entirely to my taste any more (I take wholeness, harmonic richness, tone quality, front to back depth, over a cartridge with hyper-detail and pin-point L-R staging these days - hence my last 5 years or so with Audio Note Io2, assortied Miyajimas, and higher-end Ortofon SPUs, all variations on the vintage SPU theme) but they are something to experience for sure and some people rave about them. The 1010 without the extra counterweight should handle one no bother.

Tom you are my Hero! I only wish I had heard half of the cartridges you’ve owned!


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[alphaGT]

I know you do Nigel, it did come to mind but I'm a bit off its price. Also, I haven't ever heard of one

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So how much money do you have to play with? That should narrow down the options right off.


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[Bigman80]

So how much money do you have to play with? That should narrow down the options right off.


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Lets say Around £500. Give or take a few pence.

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[blackholesun]

I bought a 103R to try on my Sony which was supposed to have a heavier tonearm. Quite possibly the effective mass on that tonearm was higher than Rega, but still insufficient for 103r. This cart really needs a tonearm with a high effective mass. I also tried a heavy counterweight and a Denon SUT. In the end I sold 103r, I preferred DL-110 and my Benz Ace.
But it's a personal thing, at a mini bake-off a friend of mine preferred 103r through his phono stage in my system, while I preferred Benz Ace with my phono stage.

[Bigbird]

ortofon rondo bronze??? they have the FG tip on them already. not sure how it would match the arm though??

[karma67]

Have a day out with your misses in Brighton oil and hear my decca lol

[jandl100]

For years I was a big fan of Dynavectors.
Started with a DV23rs, and wound my way up thru 17D2, 17D3, XX1L ..... then topped the lot musically with a 10X5.
How weird is that?
But the 10X5 remains the most enjoyable Dyna I owned.
You do get a bit more detail out of the propa Dyna MCs, but there's a rambunctious, lolloping sense of fun and sheer enjoyment with the 10X5 that won me over.

I'm also a big fan of the Denon 103, especially when rebodied in a nice massy lump of aluminium. I ended up with a Zu 103 after owning a standard 103 and loved it. It's a great way to extract more detail and refinement out of the bundle of musical fun that is the standard 103.
I never got round to a 103R.

It does sound kind of crazy - but cross a 17D3 with a 103 and you kinda end up with a 10X5.

Anyways, when all is said and done, given your stated preferences, I would defo look at a Zu 103.