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What turntable and TONEARM brands sound best with the Denon DL103 and DL 103R? MC's

Need some recommendation for turntables with TONEARMS that provide the best sound quality with either the Denon DL103R ( retail $379) or Denon DL103 ( retail $229) MC's cartridges.

Is there a major difference in sound quality between the two LOMC's??

Thank you, SJ

sunnyjim
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
Thomas Schick "12 tonearm made for Denon 103 if you’re looking for new tonearms for reasonable price.

About 103 vs 103R: the difference is stylus tip and coil wire, the "R" is superior compared to 103, but if you want even better look for higher compliance vintage 103D which does not require heavy tonearm to perform at its best.

Cartridge does not require a specific turntable, good cartridge works on any good turntable. Dedon made fantastic direct drive turntables, most of the Japanese broadcast studios equipped with direct drive like Technics Sp10mk2 etc. Denon 103 was made for broadcast use along with DL-107 (MM alternative of DL-103).  

p.s. you can easily google all info about denon variations and tonearm matching, this is not an exotic item with no info about it, tons of information online. 

sbank's avatar
sbank
2,038 posts
 
@sunnyjim Are you giving up on the U-Turn already? We didn't get a post of your evaluation of it as you promised. Thought your plan was to use the Ortofon 2M then replace it with a Denon 110? Did you try those and decide to back up the plan a step or two?
Is your budget still $1100?
Cheers,
Spencer
fjn04
1,339 posts
 
Yes- are you taking a U-turn sunnyjim (-:
lespier
67 posts
 
Audio Technica ATP-12T can be had for not a lot of money and works
very well with the DL103.
For more money the AT 1503 and Fidelity Research FR64s.
sunnyjim OP
884 posts
 

Thanks to all who have responded

To fjn04, I have not decided to make a U-Turn....yet

To Spencer, I not giving up on the  U-Turntable, but  keeping the bullpen warmed up is my style ( maybe a bad one).  This turntable quest has had its "price limit" up and downs since it first begun I should take my own advice: "that you get what you pay for" (almost all of the time), and if you keep pushing the envelope, it will break on through to the other side. I think Jim Morrison said that..

Nevertheless, I  actually like the looks and sound of the turntable. It is quiet, spins smoothly, and appear stable with low wow and flutter. However, receiving the TT with a bad motor (that produced a hum during play) right of the box was not a incentive to keep it. However, UT replaced the motor and installation was easy, the hum seems to have disappeared or has been significantly reduced to be almost inaudible.

Caveats: The belt supplied with the TT is very difficult to install around the pulley and  the acrylic platter which seems fairly well made for a TT in this price range. The supplied RCA phono cables look antiques packed with 1970 era tape decks, and will be replaced soon.

Sound quality using the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge is good to very good. The soundstage is wide, but depth is just average. Imaging is better than  above average, and not furry around the edges of voices or instruments with.an acceptable amount of  air around the instruments.

The cartridge/ tonearm interface work well enough to produce good tight bass with little to no overhang. Clarity  overall is good, but gets less so in the upper mids  and lower treble range.

I have used 2M Red cartridge before on a Rega P3-24 TT which I sold 4 years ago when the downsize devil popped up again. Therefore, I can again identify the limitation of the 2M Red, even in the U-Turn tonearm which is probably  not equal to Rega's 301b arm on the P3-24 table.

Overall, I would recommend this table to budget-minded audio system builders, which I said to myself during yesterday's  LP listening session. I think I can push the performance and sound quality envelope  of the TT with the Denon DL-110 which I mentioned before. Based on a few reviews of the Denon DL-103 and DL103R, the DL-110 is less of a hassle to install and calibrate, and  lighter than the bigger brothers at 8.5gms each.  Cheers, SJ  

 

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