Just pulled the trigger on one of these babies....

[Tarzan]

Welcome to the UK, meesta DL-S1!!

[Doubt I'll get a chance to set it up, though, until tomorrow].

Marco.

[CageyH]

I'm interested to hear your thoughts exshpectashion biash-boy.

[Tarzan]

Well come on the masses are waiting......

[CageyH]

My SAE 1000LT arrived today, and I will be in the process of fitting it as soon as I have pressed the reply button.

What's your excuse?

[Marco]

Lol - curiosity got the better of me, so I've just fitted it, set it up, and spun a few well-known tunes... Let's just say that this sums up my initial reaction to the sound:



More later!

Marco.

[keiths]

My SAE 1000LT arrived today, and I will be in the process of fitting it as soon as I have pressed the reply button.

What's your excuse?

I love my SAE 1000E, but it took a while to get on-song. For the first couple of hours, it was really, really bad - no bass, no treble - but after four hours or so, it started to loosen up and continued to improve steadily up to the twenty-odd hour mark at which point it was like someone threw a switch and everything just snapped into place. Wouldn't be surprised if your 1000LT doesn't need the same kind of time to run in.

[Marco]

Ok, so having had a good few hours now assessing the beastie, I can say most definitely I like it and that it's an interesting and worthwhile alternative to my SPU

It certainly has a different sound to the latter. The first thing that was apparent when the stylus hit the groove was that hugely extended high-frequency response we discussed earlier, which makes for a very crisply defined, sparkly, airy and spacious top-end, but without the slightest hint of 'edge'. The DL-S1 is a very 'clean' sounding cartridge, and analytical in the level of detail retrieval it offers, but never to the extent that the masses of information it throws at you becomes overbearing.

The midrange is wide-open and hugely communicative, such that voices and instruments are rendered with convincing realism and clarity. Bass is tight, rhythmic, tuneful and extended (when the music demands), but without an ounce of flab. The DL-S1 doesn't underpin music with a forceful authority in the lower registers, in the way of the SPU, but it is not bass-light (at least in my system). Essentially, the DL-S1 is a very 'accurate' sounding cartridge, but it also has 'soul', and with beat-driven music it can boogie, too!

It doesn't have quite the 'funkiness' and 'ballsy' rhythmic drive of the various derivatives of the DL-103; the DL-S1 is altogether more sophisticated and refined sounding, but it still has plenty of 'fun factor' and can carry a tune with the best of them, turning pretty much any style of music you throw at it into a rewarding and entertaining listen.

I suspect that it still needs a bit more running in, as I can hear a slight 'tightness', indicating that the sound hasn't yet fully 'fleshed out', but as more hours are being put on it, it's gradually opening up and unleashing its considerable talents, and fulfilling its credentials as a rather enthralling music-making device.

One of DL-S1's real strengths is that it's a superb tracker, and so it positively sails through rather 'difficult' material which would cause the SPU (and most cartridges) some concern, and so even with a supposedly 'inferior' stylus profile, I can observe no obvious sonic weaknesses over the SPU's line-contact Replicant design. Even at the ends of sides on albums (where traditionally line-contact styli come into their own), there is no end of side distortion, even with highly modulated material - the DL-S1 stays clean right to the musical death!

It sounds best tracking at 1.45g (with anti-skate set at 1.25g), and just fine loaded at 100ohms, through my MC head amp, although I may experiment a little in that area. Gain is also not an issue, as indeed I suspected, because the Paul Hynes head amp packs an almighty wallop! I have to say that I'm really pleased with the synergy achieved with the PH head amp and the Croft's valve MM phono stage. Once the DL-S1 has run-in fully, its performance will be in the top rank, which is quite remarkable considering that we're talking about a low-output MC cartridge that 'only' costs £500.

I've still to take delivery of the Audio-Technica A-6106 headshell leads, so fitting those should further improve matters. The DL-S1 certainly seems to like the Audio Technica MG-10 magnesium headshell, where mass appears to be near-optimal. I've also ordered one of these chaps: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171070144679 as I'm curious to see if the graphite stabiliser can offer any further sonic improvements.

All-in-all, I'm delighted with my purchase of the DL-S1 and will continue listening to music on it, as it runs in from new. I'll add some more comments in due course, but that's it for now folks!

Marco.

[Marco]

Incidentally, these are the features of the DL-S1, as outlined in the owner's manual:

Newly developed ultra-fine wire combining pure gold and 6N copper

- used in the voltage-generating coil. By combining the excellent qualities of gold and copper, a pure and clean analog sound quality has been achieved.

Stable analog reproduction via superb tracing ability

- use of a tapered cantilever, a non-magnetic coil bobbin and a 0.07mm square micro-stylus chip, have allowed a reduction of the effective mass of the vibration system, a lowering of the mechanical impedance, and stable tracing of the grooves in the record.

Denon's unique 2-way dumping system

- the unique Denon two-way dumping system has been employed to suppress the tonal variations, due to changes in room temperature, and at the same time to obtain level frequency characteristics.

Elimination of unwanted vibrations with carefully selected materials

- a ceramic frame and highly rigid aluminium body, which has received a double alumite treatment, eliminate unwanted vibrations. The cartridge can be mounted in the headshell with four screws.

__________________________________________________ ________________________________

I've found that the latter aids rigidity and really makes for the most solid coupling of the cartridge to the headshell

Aside from that, the technical features above appear to result in some unique sonic traits I've so far not heard in other MC cartridges.

Marco.

[thankyoumisterman]

Ah, I thought you'd dig it. If I could level only one criticism of the S1, it's that it doesn't pull a bit more bass depth out of LPs that really have it - but that's really a minor quibble when the rest of what the cartridge does is so damned good. I haven't heard your particular version of the SPU, but when compared to an old-fashioned of same, the S1 doesn't kick the sound out on its ass through the speakers!

Altogether a great bargain, and I do believe I'll order another to have on hand if Denon has truly decided to close down production on it. FWIW, the Cinemag Sky30 can be configured neatly around S1's output and impedance characteristics and works exceptionally well into a moving magnet tubed phono stage.

[MartinT]

I look forward to hearing it into the VIDA, Marco. Sounds like it's going to have a somewhat different presentation from the Shelter.