Still considering cartridge options

[oceanobsession]

Hi all im now looking at the denon 304 or a 103 with boron sapphire mod,
have you an opinion on these two, hifix are selling the denon at £293.70
and Expert Stylus are selling the 103 modded at £350 .

[selfaddict]

I was pondering with the same dilemma. After a lot of head scratching :scratch:, I decided to go ahead with ESC modified Denon DL-103, with their sapphire cantilever and paratracer stylus. I am expecting the cartridge to arrive next week, so we will see...

[DSJR]

The 304 is for a lower mass tonearm and has a delicate and finely drawn sound. I could be wrong, but stick it in the likes of the big Jelco and it could fall flat on its face. it does sound good in an RB300 I found.

An EsCo tweaked 103 could be the best of everything, the donor 103 having the lower compliance and drama lacking in other 103 varients (103D?) but with a far superior cantilever and diamond profile on it. An upgrade to the standard body should be next if Marco's experiences are anything to go by...:)

[oceanobsession]

The 304 is for a lower mass tonearm and has a delicate and finely drawn sound. I could be wrong, but stick it in the likes of the big Jelco and it could fall flat on its face. it does sound good in an RB300 I found.

An EsCo tweaked 103 could be the best of everything, the donor 103 having the lower compliance and drama lacking in other 103 varients (103D?) but with a far superior cantilever and diamond profile on it. An upgrade to the standard body should be next if Marco's experiences are anything to go by...:)

Would you class my pioneer pl71 as a medium mass arm then. lots of other folk seem to put the 103 with the pl71 so i suppose i should go that way.

[oceanobsession]

I was pondering with the same dilemma. After a lot of head scratching :scratch:, I decided to go ahead with ESC modified Denon DL-103, with their sapphire cantilever and paratracer stylus. I am expecting the cartridge to arrive next week, so we will see...

What cartridge are you using now and on what tt.

[selfaddict]

What cartridge are you using now and on what tt.

I had Koetsu Black cartridge, which I sold. I have heard ESC modified Denon DL-103 in a different system and just fell in love immediately. Very clear, clean and forward facing sound, just as I love it. But at the same time very enjoyable and musical, hard to explain.

I am using 12" Jelco with heavier counterweight and heavy Orsonic headshell. TT is Garrard 401 in a heavy birch plywood plinth.

[Hypnotoad]

Benz Ace SM

Sorry, forget what I said, I just realized new they are twice what you want to pay.

[DSJR]

Would you class my pioneer pl71 as a medium mass arm then. lots of other folk seem to put the 103 with the pl71 so i suppose i should go that way.

The PL71 and Rega R200 tonearms do look surprisingly similar to me and if so I'd class them as medium mass. What this means is that with a rigid lightweight headshell (the current Technics, R200 and Lustre shells and the classic ADC magnesium shell), the 304 should be fine. For the Denon 103 series, a Sumiko or AT headshell may be better, together with one of Speedy-Steve's custom counterweights ;)

[oceanobsession]

The arm on the pioneer pl 71 is 11g which is light to medium i think so maybe
there is other options.

[DSJR]

I suspect 11g plus headshell, so don't worry about it. Use a decent headshell on Marco's recommendation, add to the counterweight if you need to and go with the EsCo'd 103.

[oceanobsession]

Well ive now bought a denon dl 103 and its much better matched with my
phono stage great thud to the base maybe a bit shy at the top but im very
pleased will send it for axpert stylus mod next.