thoughts on the Audio Technica AT 70L ?
need some help with Denon DL-103r OR Suggest a different cartridge
had a Denon DL-110 cartridge and liked it and something happened to the stylus and had the money , so bought a new cartridge. picked up a Denon DL-103r, got it all setup and did some adjustments on the SIm Audio Phono preamp and not liking what I am hearing.
I am not sure if a setting on the phono preamp is not right, but dont have nearly the overall volume that I had before and the bass sounds weird now ( speakers are Magnepan 1.7i's and they sound as if the music is distorted ?)
Capacitance : I have set at 0
Resistance : I have set at 470
Gain : I have set at 66
On the tube preamp I have, the builder adds a gain dial on the back to match the amp better, and have tried adjusting that along with the main volume on the preamp and no improvement .
Is there a another setting that I should try ? Or look for a different cartridge ?
I am not sure if a setting on the phono preamp is not right, but dont have nearly the overall volume that I had before and the bass sounds weird now ( speakers are Magnepan 1.7i's and they sound as if the music is distorted ?)
Capacitance : I have set at 0
Resistance : I have set at 470
Gain : I have set at 66
On the tube preamp I have, the builder adds a gain dial on the back to match the amp better, and have tried adjusting that along with the main volume on the preamp and no improvement .
Is there a another setting that I should try ? Or look for a different cartridge ?
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- 35 posts total
Do you know the difference between Nude Stylus (Solid Diamond) and Bonded stylus ? The AT 70 L has Bonded Conical Stylys (the worst choice of stylus, the cheapest). The best AT withing your budget would be Audio-Technica AT-ML150 OCC with Solid Diamond (Nude) on Gold-Plated Beryllium Cantilever, but this is not a High Complinace cartridge and not optimal for your tonearm of 4g effective mass! AT20SLa can be good, Grace F9 can be good, both are high compliance. But the Pickering XSV-3000 is better because of the mode advanced stylus profile. |
@tomwh do you want to make a truck out of sport car ? Lighweight toneam designed for High Compliance cartridges, not for heavy low compliance Denon DL-103 monster from the 60’s which must be used on tonearms like Fidelity-Research with 35g effective mass ! Moerch toneam effective mass is 4g, can you imagine that? I think you have no idea what you’re talking about here. Most LOMC cartridges are better without SUT but with an active headamp or with a proper phono stage with high gain (like the Gold Note PH-10 for example), why anyone have to buy a SUT for oldschool cartridge with conical stylus if this cartridge can’t extract information from the groove walls because the contact area of the conical stylus is very small ? Read here about diamond profiles. How can a SUT solve this problem? Not to mention that the OP does not have an appropriate tonearm for this Denon cartridge which makes the whole idea simply useless. You can’t add additional 20-30g weight just with two brass screws. Moerch is a great toneam, but with the right High-End cartridge. The price of the Denon 103R + the price of the SUT or better phono stage aren’t cheap if you will summarize. Add the cost of retip after 300-400 hrs of use. Buyin’ all these to listen to the music with conical tip in 2019 is anachronism. Properly selected $300-400 MM or MI cartridge for Moerch toneam is killing it without any extra investment in OP’s system. No problem with gain, no coloration, no etra components in the chain, better stylus profile, extended frequency range, better tracking ability, more everything ... and most important - user friendly stylus replacement after 600-1200 hrs of use with elliptical or line contact profile ... this is all about MM/MI |
You might want to look at how effective mass is calculated. You can make or buy a brass shim/plate which can add alot of grams. Your constant attack on conical tips is not remotely agreed upon. There is a cult following around the 103 for a reason. In a perfect world he would use a heavier arm. I am running my own 14" arms. But he could try the brass on the cheap. Cinemags transformers are cheap and work great with 103's. I could go on and on but I did not write the post to change your mind only to let the OP know some options. Enjoy the ride Tom |
- 35 posts total