magiccarpetride
17-03-2019, 17:58
About 2.5 - 3 years ago, I came to the realization that no matter how many upgrades I continue making to my digital front end, I will never get to the point where I actually enjoy digital playback. So I decided to go back to the roots, back to the fundamentals -- vinyl. After all, early on my love for music started with my love affair with vinyl.
This time around I decided to start from the very instrument that makes music -- the cartridge. And because I've never had a chance to experiment with moving coil cartridges, I started doing research on MC carts. Of course, no discussion on MC carts can occur without involving Denon DL-103. I quickly realized the almost mythical status of that cart, and because the price was right, I ordered one.
When it arrived, I began the search for a turntable and the phono preamp that would host this little cart. Some people recommended Technics SL-1200, but these tables were not so easy to find in a decent condition. Besides, some other people in the know advised that SL-1200 may not be precise enough for DL-103. So I continued my search for a vintage table. Eventually settled on Systemdek IIX (a poor man's Linn Sondek LP12) with Rega RB300 arm. The seller threw in Project Phono Box DC with a hand made SUT.
When I mounted DL-103 and gave it a spin, I was pleasantly surprised by the forcefulness of the presentation. It did deliver a lot of body and presence to the playback. Right there I knew that I made the right decision to abandon digital and go back to analog.
After living for a few weeks with that configuration, I started feeling that something was lacking in the sound quality, so I decided to upgrade the phono. Ordered Emotiva XPS-1, and indeed that little phono noticeably improved the sound. Still, after spending a few months with the new configuration, I was not satisfied with the overall delivery. It felt a bit brittle, and glaring, and the finer details were kind of missing. I started looking for the alternative components for my analog chain.
After receiving a few suggestions, I decided to try a different cart, something that would give me less glaring sound, with more details. Settled on Ortofon OM20, which has a nude elliptical stylus. And indeed, the moment I mounted OM20 on RB300, it became obvious that many previously missing details are now fully present. I was kind of satisfied with the upgrade, but the sound, although detailed, was still glaring and a bit glassy/metallic.
I then upgraded my phono to iFi Micro iPhono 2. That upgrade took the playback to a completely new level. So at that point, I was very satisfied with the configuration; the metallic, glassy and glaring sound was all but gone. Much more pleasant listening experience.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it later turned out), I managed to damage RB300 while transporting my turntable. I replaced it with Jelco SA-750E 10 inch arm. I mounted OM20 on Jelco, and was happy to notice that the sound in the new configuration got better. However, because Jelco being a 10 inch arm was mounted on an armboard machined for a 9 inch RB300, the geometry was off. So I ordered a custom made armboard for Jelco. The armboard was machined from plexiglass, and when it arrived and I installed it, I for some crazy reason decided to try it with DL-103.
And that's when the unexpected happened. Although I had previously clearly demonstrated to myself that replacing conical stylus cart with nude elliptical stylus cart definitely provides much more finer details, going back to the conical stylus all of a sudden completely destroyed the nude elliptical stylus! Denon DL-103 is now delivering way more finer details than Ortofon OM20 ever could.
My conclusion is that DL-103 was obviously a very poor match in my configuration with Rega RB300 arm. It was severely underperforming on RB300, while Ortofon OM20 was a much better fit, so it easily beat DL-103. But on a better arm (Jelco, obviously a better fit for DL-103), OM20 lost on all aspects. And I use the word 'lost' to avoid any hint of a hyperbole, while in actuality a much better description would be 'DL-103 totally DESTROYED OM20 on Jelco 10 inch tonearm!'
OK, so after this long winded retelling of my journey, I get to the real point of my post: Denon DL-103 has now completely transformed my experience of listening to music playback. This last adjustment (setting it on Jelco SA-750E arm with properly designed armboard) created a very unique presentation of the music playback. I'm sharing this with you because I have never heard anything like the sound I'm now getting out of this cart. It is hard to put into words what's different, so I feel forced to reach for some analogies (I'll be probably stretching the analogy too thin here, so I apologize in advance):
Long time ago, when I first visited France, I had an eye opening experience regarding their food. Before visiting France, I was never much into food, to be honest. But trying their specialty food items had awaken a new sensual perception in me. So for example, I remember trying for the first time tart au citron (lemon tart) in Paris. It was a crazy experience, because not only did I taste lemon, eggs and butter, I was actually tasting something else, something that has no name. It's the quality that results from a well assembled compound where the final result is larger than the sum of its parts.
In a similar fashion, when I now listen to records using DL-103, I hear something that is larger than the sum of the instruments and vocals that comprise the recording. And I've never heard such thing before. So that new quality with no name, that now emerged from my system, is so bloody seductive, that I completely forget about instruments, forget about vocals, forget about soundstage and imaging, and am just soaking in this divine substance that is washing over me.
I know this sounds stupid crazy, but that's the revelation that hit me with this new configuration with DL-103. If I now put some other cartridge on (I've tried Ortofon and Audio Technica), I absolutely do not get even a trace of that new presentation. I get a good old familiar 'hi fi' sound where what attracts my attention is the precise imaging, sizeable soundstage, finer textures of voices and instruments, and so on. Switching back to DL-103, all those facets become secondary, because that elusive 'tone' commands full attention, and is centre stage.
Just to be pedantic, I started visiting friends with good audio systems, and listening to their configurations. None of that elusive quality was to be found on other systems I've carefully listened to. I even visited some local high end audio stores and spent some time listening to their flagship 'statement' systems, none of the magical quality could be detected. Just a very respectable, very convincing hi fi delivery, with loads of details, vast soundstage, razor sharp imaging, etc.
I've now concluded that what I have in my listening room is not so much a music reproduction chain, as basically a new musical instrument. Something that makes sound using a piece of rotating plastic. Blast!
Sorry for the long rant, and thanks for reading...
This time around I decided to start from the very instrument that makes music -- the cartridge. And because I've never had a chance to experiment with moving coil cartridges, I started doing research on MC carts. Of course, no discussion on MC carts can occur without involving Denon DL-103. I quickly realized the almost mythical status of that cart, and because the price was right, I ordered one.
When it arrived, I began the search for a turntable and the phono preamp that would host this little cart. Some people recommended Technics SL-1200, but these tables were not so easy to find in a decent condition. Besides, some other people in the know advised that SL-1200 may not be precise enough for DL-103. So I continued my search for a vintage table. Eventually settled on Systemdek IIX (a poor man's Linn Sondek LP12) with Rega RB300 arm. The seller threw in Project Phono Box DC with a hand made SUT.
When I mounted DL-103 and gave it a spin, I was pleasantly surprised by the forcefulness of the presentation. It did deliver a lot of body and presence to the playback. Right there I knew that I made the right decision to abandon digital and go back to analog.
After living for a few weeks with that configuration, I started feeling that something was lacking in the sound quality, so I decided to upgrade the phono. Ordered Emotiva XPS-1, and indeed that little phono noticeably improved the sound. Still, after spending a few months with the new configuration, I was not satisfied with the overall delivery. It felt a bit brittle, and glaring, and the finer details were kind of missing. I started looking for the alternative components for my analog chain.
After receiving a few suggestions, I decided to try a different cart, something that would give me less glaring sound, with more details. Settled on Ortofon OM20, which has a nude elliptical stylus. And indeed, the moment I mounted OM20 on RB300, it became obvious that many previously missing details are now fully present. I was kind of satisfied with the upgrade, but the sound, although detailed, was still glaring and a bit glassy/metallic.
I then upgraded my phono to iFi Micro iPhono 2. That upgrade took the playback to a completely new level. So at that point, I was very satisfied with the configuration; the metallic, glassy and glaring sound was all but gone. Much more pleasant listening experience.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it later turned out), I managed to damage RB300 while transporting my turntable. I replaced it with Jelco SA-750E 10 inch arm. I mounted OM20 on Jelco, and was happy to notice that the sound in the new configuration got better. However, because Jelco being a 10 inch arm was mounted on an armboard machined for a 9 inch RB300, the geometry was off. So I ordered a custom made armboard for Jelco. The armboard was machined from plexiglass, and when it arrived and I installed it, I for some crazy reason decided to try it with DL-103.
And that's when the unexpected happened. Although I had previously clearly demonstrated to myself that replacing conical stylus cart with nude elliptical stylus cart definitely provides much more finer details, going back to the conical stylus all of a sudden completely destroyed the nude elliptical stylus! Denon DL-103 is now delivering way more finer details than Ortofon OM20 ever could.
My conclusion is that DL-103 was obviously a very poor match in my configuration with Rega RB300 arm. It was severely underperforming on RB300, while Ortofon OM20 was a much better fit, so it easily beat DL-103. But on a better arm (Jelco, obviously a better fit for DL-103), OM20 lost on all aspects. And I use the word 'lost' to avoid any hint of a hyperbole, while in actuality a much better description would be 'DL-103 totally DESTROYED OM20 on Jelco 10 inch tonearm!'
OK, so after this long winded retelling of my journey, I get to the real point of my post: Denon DL-103 has now completely transformed my experience of listening to music playback. This last adjustment (setting it on Jelco SA-750E arm with properly designed armboard) created a very unique presentation of the music playback. I'm sharing this with you because I have never heard anything like the sound I'm now getting out of this cart. It is hard to put into words what's different, so I feel forced to reach for some analogies (I'll be probably stretching the analogy too thin here, so I apologize in advance):
Long time ago, when I first visited France, I had an eye opening experience regarding their food. Before visiting France, I was never much into food, to be honest. But trying their specialty food items had awaken a new sensual perception in me. So for example, I remember trying for the first time tart au citron (lemon tart) in Paris. It was a crazy experience, because not only did I taste lemon, eggs and butter, I was actually tasting something else, something that has no name. It's the quality that results from a well assembled compound where the final result is larger than the sum of its parts.
In a similar fashion, when I now listen to records using DL-103, I hear something that is larger than the sum of the instruments and vocals that comprise the recording. And I've never heard such thing before. So that new quality with no name, that now emerged from my system, is so bloody seductive, that I completely forget about instruments, forget about vocals, forget about soundstage and imaging, and am just soaking in this divine substance that is washing over me.
I know this sounds stupid crazy, but that's the revelation that hit me with this new configuration with DL-103. If I now put some other cartridge on (I've tried Ortofon and Audio Technica), I absolutely do not get even a trace of that new presentation. I get a good old familiar 'hi fi' sound where what attracts my attention is the precise imaging, sizeable soundstage, finer textures of voices and instruments, and so on. Switching back to DL-103, all those facets become secondary, because that elusive 'tone' commands full attention, and is centre stage.
Just to be pedantic, I started visiting friends with good audio systems, and listening to their configurations. None of that elusive quality was to be found on other systems I've carefully listened to. I even visited some local high end audio stores and spent some time listening to their flagship 'statement' systems, none of the magical quality could be detected. Just a very respectable, very convincing hi fi delivery, with loads of details, vast soundstage, razor sharp imaging, etc.
I've now concluded that what I have in my listening room is not so much a music reproduction chain, as basically a new musical instrument. Something that makes sound using a piece of rotating plastic. Blast!
Sorry for the long rant, and thanks for reading...