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 ?

riley804
@chakster if went with the Pickering.....same arm tube can be used ?

Yes, Pickering XSV-3000 is a high compliance cartridge, if you have the light weight armtube then it was designed for High Compliance carts by default and must be used with a cartridge with compliance of 30cu and higher.

You will rarely find any modern cartridge with high compliance, but most of the greatest MM from the 80’s (golden age of analog) are high compliance.

The tonearms designed in the 70’s and in the 80’s for High Compliance cartridges are all have effective mass of 3-6g (Infinity Black Widow, Denon DA-401 just to name a few). The tracking force for High Compliance cartridges is no more than 2g, normally under 1.5g.

Pickering XSV-3000 like the Stanton has a longhair brush infront of the stylus to cleans the groove surfaces just before playing, and at the same time stabilizes the tone arm. This brush is removable.

XSV-3000 has the most advanced stylus shape called Stereohedron which is achieved by grinding four flat surface on the diamond at precise angles to each other and their intersection creates areas used to contact the groove. The advantage of the Stereohedron stylus is that because of it’s long and narrow contact surfaces it tracks high frequency modulation minimizing groove wear.

I know several users of Pickering XSV-3000 here on audiogon and everybody happy about this wonderful cartridge.

If you already checked this article all you need to know is that Pickering XSV-3000 is a prototype of the Stanton 881s, different branding, but the same manufacturer.


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.
Add weight to the head shell.  Brass works well.  Get a SUT for sure.  It is a top tier cartridge regardless of price.  If set up correctly, it will bogie and sound like real music.

Enjoy the ride
Tom