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Phono cartridge suggestions sought

Hi All,

 I am in the market for a new phono cartridge. I can run up to $1400 but would prefer not to if i can get the performance I want. 

I listen to predominantly Jazz on vinyl, though some rock, folk and classical also gets spun

I recently heard a Hana SL and Rega Apheta at a dealers—different decks, same room and system. Both sounded good although the Apheta was not as heavy sounding and at the same time sounded more “present”. I wasn’t really looking at the Apheta, but it was available to listen to. 

The room is accoustically live with lots of glass and hard surfaces but all sounds good. 

System: Naim Atom, Bryston TT, Parasound JC jr phono stage (so huge loading flexibility and gain up to the 60’s), Totem Acoustics Signature Ones, Transparent cables. Current cart: Denon 103r with 250 hours on it, so it is winding down. 

I have enjoyed the Denon. But wondering about that all elusive “more.”

on paper spec, nobody touches the Grados for channel separation, but not sure how essential a criterion that should be. Especially since I worked hard to tame some RFI from a nearby antenna and the Grados I have heard said are not well-shielded. 

Since my Totems only drop down to 45 Hz, I suppose absolute resolution on the low end could be sacrificed for other sonic goods. 

Ok, hive mind, what do you suggest?
dramatictenor
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
"What do you know about your arm, was the 103 a good match?"

Seems like a good match. 10 gram effective mass or so. It’s written down somewhere.

No way 10g is optimal for an oldschool low compliance cartridge like Denon 103. At least 20g effective mass! And very few modern arm will be as high in effective moving mass. 30g will be even better, remember that compliance of Denon 103 is extremely low, this is a stiff cartridge, so superheavy effective mass is a must!

Tonearms with 10g mass designed for mid of high compliance cartridges. It is always surprise me when people buying an oldschool monster like dl-103 without having an appropriate tonearm for this cartridge, it is absolutely pointless.  


yeti42's avatar
yeti42
287 posts
 
I’m going to try an SPU Royal N on an arm I can get up to 18g affective mass and it’s a heavy cartridge. Word from my arm’s builder is that this may not be enough but give it a try. I’m replacing a Transfiguration Proteus, now an orphan cartridge, and it will be a hard act to follow so something radically different may help stop me comparing it too harshly. I still have a part worn 17D3 but the Proteus did everthing that cartridge did only better. The 17D is still a good cartridge though, I used several of them for 25 years on a Rock mk2 with an RB300.
dramatictenor OP
183 posts
 
From Andrew Ballew:

Overall, the Denon is a better cart to my ears. Oh, and the intermodulation distortion I was getting has been greatly reduced. Only happens on a couple offending albums, now.  

But, this shouldn't be, right?? I have seen the question popped on several forums, including this one, I think. The answer is always the Denon is a low compliance cart and WILL NOT WORK with a Rega arm.  

I'm not really sure where that comes from. If you have heard the combo, you know it works fine. If you do the math, combining the Denon with a Rega arm gives you a resonant frequency of 11.3 hz. Static compliance of the Denon is widely thought to be around 10 (rule of thumb seems to be double the stated compliance of a Japanese cart). Rega arm (RB303) is estimated to be 11 grams. The Denon Cart is 8.5 grams. 

What the resonance frequency should be is arguable. But it seems that the range between 8hz and 12 hz is considered acceptable. And, my math says I am right there. 
yeti42's avatar
yeti42
287 posts
 
I thought 1.7 was the factor to convert compliance at 100Hz to that at 10Hz. This gives 8.5 and with a Rega 300 at 11.5 gives a resonance of 12 to 13 Hz, a little high which, might be part of the reason for the popularity of heavier alternative bodies.
dramatictenor OP
183 posts
 
Yeti,
I was merely sharing another audiophile's thinking. What I do feel comfortable saying is that our math doesn't always describe the real world...which is another way of saying that there are often factors that we can't always describe at current state of knowledge, but which challenge orthodox thinking regardless. 

I don't know why the Denon sounds good on this table, but it does. That said, I am still hesitating to pull the trigger on something that hopefully will sound great. 
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