Phono stage good for classical and jazz?

is there something i can do to rememdy the mismatch, blu tec a nickel to the tonearm some people sugguest?

unfortunately, I have to stick with what I have for a while?

Jackyjack,

No, you really can't overcome a fundamental compliance mismatch between cartridge and tonearm. Adding mass will simply add mass where neither the tonearm or cartridge designer wanted it, and still won't overcome the basic mismatch problem.

You can order a Denon DL-110 HOMC cartridge (plays through the MM stage) for just $87. I would give that a try first and see if it sounds better than your DL-103R before dropping some major gelt on a (possibly unnecessary) external phono amp.

If you think that you need a new phono amp on a budget, I have had heard good results with the Lehmann line. They have units in all price ranges from <$500 to approx. $2K.

Having said that, there are lots of guys who use and enjoy the sound of their DL-103 cartridges on lighter-weight tonearms. I'm just not one of them.

I used a much cheaper pro-ject rpm 1.3 genie which came with a factory installed ortofon 2M Red. The result and the dynamics was surprisingly good.

That's why I upgraded to the current 2 xperience with the denon 103r.

What are the symptoms of a cartridge / tonearm mismatch?

Many people said the Rega tonearm matches well with the denon 103r. But the Rega and Pro-ject tone arms are having more or less similar weight.

Many people said the Rega tonearm matches well with the denon 103r

I have found this to be not true, at least to my ears. I suspect that the DL-103x gets used in these situations mainly because they are one of the, if not the, least expensive MC cartridges on the market.

In a nutshell, a compliance mismatch will result in less than optimal sound (duh!). This can include the system sounding overly bright or dull and lifeless, depending on if the cartridge is over or under-damped by the tonearm. What is less understood is that a severe compliance mismatch can also result in poor stylus tracking and a smeared or "inaccurate" soundstage presentation.

Re: Herron VTPH-1, That phono stage can handle either MM or MC, but the changes need to be made at the factory. IIRC, the VTPH-1mm is pure tube while the MC version uses quiet FETs to amplify the low level MC signal.

Symptoms of a compliance mismatch (low compliance cart on a low-mass arm) usually include uneven frequency response and a lack of bass. Can also include blunted transients.

The higher mass arm is needed to keep the cartridge body in one place while the cantilever and stylus track through the groove. Insufficient mass allows the cartridge to vibrate and move with the cantilever rather than the cantilever transmitting the signal to the coils.

Adding weight via an arm wrap may help increase effective mass and damping. There are other considerations such as bearing load and counterweight mass that might not work well with the new arm mass.

All that said, there are some very nice MM and MI carts that would be a good match to a low mass arm.