1210 advice with Dl 110,headshell etc......

Hi all, Just acquired a mint 1210, with Jelco 750D arm, I put a Dl 110 on it I was using with my other TT (low usage). Started reading these forums, saw the dl 103 was a popular choice with 1210/750 combo, just wondering on the differences between the two, and also whether I should invest a new headshell, mine is standard that came with the Jelco, the arm also has the upgraded Ammonite collar. I was using another cart I had on the 1210, an Ortofon Rondo Red, but I bent the needle (cantilever? apologies I'm still new to analogue lingo), so that needs to be fixed, if possible, I hope so! Currently using all this through a Naim nac 72/140/teddycap, with 322 issue 1 mm phono boards (apparently serviced by Witchat recently), the DL 110 is of course high output mc, but over on the Naim forum they tell me its not a perfect match for the 322 cards, they claim its more of medium output mc cart.

Anyway just after differences between 110/103, and suitability for the 1210/750,and headshell advice, don't mind spending up to £100 on headshell. I see many price differences though, an Ortofon HL 9000 for instance is £160 in the UK, but as low as £100 (or may'be it was even less) from Japan, for new, free postage! I understand weight of headshell needs to be considered once I've settled on cart.

A few notes on the 1210, good at rhythms, so some jazz is sounding better, obviously techno/house/dance music is amazing and fun. Still needs more refinement for complex music, not sure I want to go through the upgrade path with it, as some say so and so upgrade makes a difference, and others are, well does it really? Especially when some of the upgrades (i.e. off boards psu cost as much as a decent used 1210!!). I think I'd like to improve the TT as much as I can without messing around with the insides, as I do enjoy its looks and functionality.

There are very large differences between the DL110 and DL103, the 103 needs a higher mass arm, much more gain in the phonostage, and a very different loading than the 110.

Neither will sound optimal if not catered to properly. Either will sound fantastic if properly cared for.

As for easy improvements to you your deck, change the mat. I love the Acromat, it's an astonishing improvement from the stock rubber.

A couple of things come to mind that have helped me there. You can substitute an external power supply for the stock one and you can damp the existing platter. If you can do DIY work, you can do these quite economically. Another great mod is to upgrade the platter bearing. A member here (IanMac) does a mod to the stock Techie bearing. The results are quite good and the cost is reasonable.

I've just got the Ian Mac bearing, yet to fit it though, will do as soon as I buy some oil. I'm starting to like the 1210 more and more, as yet my Heybrook is waiting on a new stylus, so when its up and running again I'll be able to compare, I intend to keep both and use them for whatever music suits either deck, have 2 TTs running at same time, just got a shelf for the Heybrook as the stylus jumps all over the place as listening room has suspended floors. The TT came with the acromat, but I been thinking of getting an aluminium 'mat' to sit on top of platter. Been looking at external power supplies, but don't wanna spend £400, that's what I paid for 1210 itself, so its really not worth the money. Still yet to get new feet, does this make a noticeable difference? I am sceptical about these smaller mods!

Hi-fi Hangar are selling a Paul Hynes SR5 for £295 on their eBay page, they'll take less outside of eBay , pretty sure that would work with the 1210.

Feet make a surprising difference, even resting the stock feet on something as simple as Vibrapods is quite eye-opening. I'm not sure if this is more that the stock feet suck or if others are just that much better, but regardless, it works.

In my opinion, PSU is the most important single mod you can do. There's no other way to say it. Getting the vibrating transformer out of the chassis and away from the electronics and cartridge makes a profound difference, and all for the better.

That PSU I mentioned above

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1920378628...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thankyou for all replies, much appreciated. Hear some people say buying a new off board psu makes no difference. And I can't hear any hum through my 1210 at all, absolute silence, in this case, is it worth going offboard? Do I have a special 1210?!! Its just that I see so many threads that mention the hum from a 1210 with needle resting on record and not moving, but nothing with my TT.

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Originally Posted by Mikeandvan

Thankyou for all replies, much appreciated. Hear some people say buying a new off board psu makes no difference. And I can't hear any hum through my 1210 at all, absolute silence, in this case, is it worth going offboard? Do I have a special 1210?!! Its just that I see so many threads that mention the hum from a 1210 with needle resting on record and not moving, but nothing with my TT.

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You would probably have to hook it up to a scope to see the hum. It depends on the rest of the system. If you can't hear it with the volume turned up and nothing playing, I wouldn't bother upgrading it yet.

As you change other components it may become audible. What type of cartridge are you using?

*nevermind the post is about the Denon 110. You already answered the question.

The lower output of that cartridge makes it fairly forgiving when hooked up to a standard preamp. Adding a preamp with more gain would probably make it audible, and improve the sound overall.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nthall

*nevermind the post is about the Denon 110. You already answered the question.

The lower output of that cartridge makes it fairly forgiving when hooked up to a standard preamp. Adding a preamp with more gain would probably make it audible, and improve the sound overall.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

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After A/B ing my digital and analogue/TT, I realised that my TT had fallen well behind my digital, my Axis/basik plus/DL110/Rotel RQ-970BX/8000Q needed some help...

So I plumped for a new phono stage (pro-ject tube box s), as the cartridge and 8000Q are relatively new, the deck and phono stage go back to '89, and I'll hold back on a new deck for the moment

Wow I really wasn't ready for the level of improvement, configured at the prescribed settings for a high output MC cartridge it's an enormous improvement over the old Rotel...so much so that one has to surmise that the old phono stage was somewhat compromised, or just not a good match for the DL110.

Whereas the tube box S is an excellent match for the Denon...:cool: