In praise of the Denon 103...

[Martyn Miles]

I have been running an Entre MC cartridge ( purchased in 1979 ) with an LP12 / Misson 774 combination for as long as I can remember.
The Entre has had many new styli over the years, fitted by Expert Pickups.
Recently a broken Denon 103 came into my possession, so I thought I’d get Expert to fit a new cantilever and stylus. After about 4 weeks it returned and I removed the Entre and fitted the Denon.
What a revelation.
A vast soundstage and a bass end I had never experienced with the Entre.
As the Entre had a recently fitted stylus I sold it very easily and the buyer is very happy with it.
If anyone is considering a ‘103, don’t hesitate.

[RobbieGong]

The 103 has a great reputation and is well regarded as a wonderfully musical thing for relatively small change, in the scheme of things.

It's not everybodies cup of tea but although I've never heard one myself, I've read untold instances of very happy audiophiles who use one in its many guises / variants.

It is a cart that clearly has something that hits the spot, hence it being that 'go to' cart for so many, for so long.

[karma67]

the one i had was a bit special,its been said before but the 103 is so musical,i enjoyed it a lot.

[nickbaba]

I have both a standard DL-103 and a DL-103-SA (Jamie's one). The SA is indeed a bit special, more detailed and refined presentation than the 103, but the 103 absolutely great too, and I'm a fan.
I think they used to be industry standard for broadcast transcription turntables, so that tells you something.

[montesquieu]

Dissenting voice here, I have owned many of all sort of flavours, stock and modded, over the years, and could never get worked up about them. Their charms do not outweight their flaws in my book and if strapped for cash I'd rather run a decent MM (as, indeed, I do on the 401 in my study system).

[walpurgis]

Dissenting voice here

More or less the same here.

For the money I suppose you can't really complain, at least the 103 is a taste of MC sound at (comparatively) minimal cost.

I've had a few basic 103's and one 103R, which I thought was a much better cartridge and again good value.

However, for about eighty quid extra, the Goldring Eroica LX is available and that is much more fun.

[tlscapital]

A vast soundstage and a bass end I had never experienced with the Entre.

I am running with a DL-102 since 8 years now. And have learn to play it more and more optimistically through the gradual conversion of my SME3009 'Improved' S II into a heavy and heavier effective mass tonearm to hear the DL-102 perform good to end-up with a big and deep sound stage presentation.

Mind that my DL-102 is a HOMC (103 is LOMC) and so likely even more "exotic" on it's loads, gains and impedances the the DL-103 is. But I wouldn't be surprised if the DL-103 wouldn't benefit from a preamp with adjustable settings (more than the preconfigured switch from MM to MC) like mine if ever.

Off course other or higher-end MC cartridges will prove of other standards in comparison. Such Denon's DL 'as-is' won't proved as detailed, rich and deep. But for my money and use for my vintage 45 rpm on my phono set-up, I can say that I am proud, happy and impressed with what this cartridge delivers.

The DL-102 cartridge was design and build for radio broadcast and so aim at retrieving the most of the groove to present music in the first place. Which I find they can be really good at on an appropriate phono system. Musicality and soundstage is what I need. This DL-102 of mine does give me that

[Barry]

IMO the Denon 103C is a pretty good 'cooking cartridge'. I have a couple and would rate it alongside the Ortofon MC25FL as a low cost introduction to the joys of MC cartridges. It also offers ample scope for fettling/nuding/stylus profile changing, for those who like to experiment.

Remember the stock DL 103 has a conical stylus and was designed for use by the Japanese NKT broadcasting company back in 1962. A better cartridge was the later 103D fitted with an elliptical stylus. There was also the 103S, fitted with a Shibata profile stylus, designed for playing quadiphonic records.

[montesquieu]

I am running with a DL-102 since 8 years now. And have learn to play it more and more optimistically through the gradual conversion of my SME3009 'Improved' S II into a heavy and heavier effective mass tonearm to hear the DL-102 perform good to end-up with a big and deep sound stage presentation.

Mind that my DL-102 is a HOMC (103 is LOMC) and so likely even more "exotic" on it's loads, gains and impedances the the DL-103 is. But I wouldn't be surprised if the DL-103 wouldn't benefit from a preamp with adjustable settings (more than the preconfigured switch from MM to MC) like mine if ever.

Off course other or higher-end MC cartridges will prove of other standards in comparison. Such Denon's DL 'as-is' won't proved as detailed, rich and deep. But for my money and use for my vintage 45 rpm on my phono set-up, I can say that I am proud, happy and impressed with what this cartridge delivers.

The DL-102 cartridge was design and build for radio broadcast and so aim at retrieving the most of the groove to present music in the first place. Which I find they can be really good at on an appropriate phono system. Musicality and soundstage is what I need. This DL-102 of mine does give me that

DL102 is (internally) a HOMC stereo cartridge strapped for mono of entirely different design to the DL103 and specifically created for a particular broadcast purpose, which is playing stereo tracks including 45s for broadcast on frequency limited AM radio stations - that’s why if you check you will find the specification only runs to 10khz. It’s not in any sense a like for like comparator for the 103.

I quite like the 102 as an intro to the world of mono but it’s quickly outshone by most *true mono* cartridges - at least for playing mono. For its intended purpose of safely rendering stereo records into bandwidth-limited mono for AM broadcast it really has no rivals! The benefit over most single coil mono cartridges for this purpose is its ability to have the stylus move in all dimensions to follow a v shaped groove as opposed to horizontal only motion required for mono pressings.

[tlscapital]

DL102 is (internally) a HOMC stereo cartridge strapped for mono of entirely different design to the DL103 and specifically created for a particular broadcast purpose, which is playing stereo tracks including 45s for broadcast on frequency limited AM radio stations - that’s why if you check you will find the specification only runs to 10khz. It’s not in any sense a like for like comparator for the 103.

Indeed the DL-102 is another beast that also came in for air-play purpose. It is a MONO cartridge that was designed to play STEREO records as well without inducing wear in a satisfactory way. And it does that well I do find. Although it's favored by few only. My understanding is that most of the time it isn't properly combined and even when it is, likely not enough of the "Hi-Fi" signature type...

Predeceasing the DL-103 by some years, that which is a LOMC STEREO cartridge, it is often also disregarded for similar reasons as the DL-102. When I believe that they might actually perform much better set on an adjustable preamp and on a matching heavy effective mass tonearm. Implying that maybe the OP phono set-up has just all that and allows his DL-103 in trial to shine in comparison.

I quite like the 102 as an intro to the world of mono but it’s quickly outshone by most *true mono* cartridges - at least for playing mono. For its intended purpose of safely rendering stereo records into bandwidth-limited mono for AM broadcast it really has no rivals! The benefit over most single coil mono cartridges for this purpose is its ability to have the stylus move in all dimensions to follow a v shaped groove as opposed to horizontal only motion required for mono pressings.

The DL-102 is NOT a stereo cartridge strapped internally for mono, but is specially designed to output a mono signal from a stereo LP, so there is no danger of damaging a modern record by its use. Denon's own instruction sheet states "The DL-102 is a monophonic output moving coil cartridge designed for monophonic replay as well as the monophonic playback of stereo recordings."

This is exactly why I went ahead for this DL-102 cartridge in the first place; as a one phono set-up, one turntable, one arm, one cartridge... for my thousand of vintage records, most MONO, some STEREO and some "unknown", a compromising MONO cartridge was a good argument to go for it. After all the tweak-in journey was long, surprising but so rewarding as revealing of it's true potential. PRAISE !