Scott, well, this is indeed puzzling. Given your last post, it seems clear that the possibility that some part of the electronic signal path is being overloaded when the Denon cartridges are used can be ruled out. And given the good info Fleib has provided about compliance, my suspicion is that arm/cartridge compatibility is not the issue, or at least the major issue. But in response to your initial request for info on that subject, you'll probably find
this writeup to be helpful.
I'll second the suggestion of trying headphones, if that is practical, especially if you are certain that the distortion that occurs at higher volume levels with the Denons vanishes at low volume levels. Obviously the only way the cartridge's performance could be volume-sensitive (for a given passage of a given recording) is if acoustic feedback from the speakers is occurring to a significant degree. You might also visually check to see if the woofers are visibly "pumping" when that distortion occurs.
What could account for the thin sound and lack of bass with the DL-103r is a phase reversal in one channel. In other words if the white and blue cartridge connections are interchanged, OR if red and green are interchanged. Or if a corresponding miswire exists internally within the cartridge. A phase reversal in one channel would also result in imaging that is vague, diffuse, and hard to localize.
Also, what tracking forces are you using for each of the cartridges?
Finally, although chances are it is unrelated to the problems, how have you set anti-skating? When the cartridge is viewed from the front, while the stylus is in the groove of a rotating record, is the cantilever pointed essentially straight ahead (assuming it points straight ahead when the stylus is lifted off of the record), or is it deflecting perceptibly to the left or the right?
Just some thoughts. Good luck.
Regards,
-- Al
