need some help with Denon DL-103r OR Suggest a different cartridge

according to the Moerch site....I have the green dot and the effective mass is : 4g

for budget, would like to stay in th $400 - 600 range.

A few exceptionally good high-compliance cartridges for your lightweigh tonearm (within your budget):

ADC TRX-2 IM (Induced Magnet) with Sapphire Cantilever and Vital diamond. ADC (Audio Dynamics Corporation) under a new ownership continued making High-End cartridges. To develop ADC sound they hired Nakansuka San from Japan, now he’s the owner of ultra high-end brand ZYX. You may think that ZYX is this brave new phono cartridge manufacturer, but its founder and chief designer, Hisayoshi Nakatsuka, is far from being a newcomer. Nakatsuka San has been working for Namiki, Accuphase, Adcom, Ortofon ... Back in the 70’s top of the line ADC TRX series was designed by Nakatsuka San (ZYX). Flagship models ADC TRX-2 with Sapphire cantilever and Vital II nude diamond is one of the best ADC cartridge designed under new ownership.

Sony XL-50 MM with Boron Hollow Pipe Cantilever and Super Elliptical tip, unique jointless delta-type core. My latest discovery, amazing cartridge.

Pickering XSV-3000 MM with Stereohedron tip (just like Stanton 881s) is the best and the cheapest all rounder. I have a spare cartridge and spare sealed NOS stylus.

thoughts on this one :

https://www.musicdirect.com/phono-cartridges/soundsmith-carmen-high-output-moving-iron-phono-cartrid...

regarding the Picering XSV, if something should happen to it, can it still be fixed by Stanton or is that not possible ?       

regarding the Pickering XSV, if something should happen to it, can it still be fixed by Stanton or is that not possible ?

All Stanton / Pickering top of the line cartridges from the 80’s can be fixed by the UK company Expert Stylus with their Paratrace profile. That comapy was the original manufacturer of the Stereohedron stylus patented by Stanton Magnetics back in the day. The Paratrace is the closest profile. Actually every Stanton/Pickering collector aware of the Expert Stylus service. My friend @nandric retipped some of the very expensive LOMC cartridges from his collection in the UK at Expert Stylus with Paratrace profile, so i think you can trust.

BUT as i said the NOS (original) styli can be found sealed even today, so no need for retip or refurbish. I have much more expensive and rare Stanton cartridges with a bunch of NOS sealed Stereohedron styli for back up. The goal of the MM is replacement stylus, we don’t need SoundSmith or anybody else to keep vintage MM alive for years. The life span of the Stereohedron stylus is twice as much than the Elliptical

BTW SoundSmith cartridges are not High Compliance, they are 22cu @ 10Hz or even lower , while all 3 cartridges from my recommended list are 30cu @ 10Hz and higher in Complinace which is better for such a light mass tonearm (the OP said it’s just 4g)

I think you should buy a Ortofon 2M Black and be done with it. I was using a DL103 for a couple months and then moved to the Black and I was so happy. I got all the things I liked from the DL103 and more.You’ll need to spend time with setup with the Moerch because azimuth is important, but that’s such an underrated arm that I think will go well with the Ortofon.

had the Ortofon 2M Black and didnt care for that one,  had to much sibilance .