Help with cartridge
With the world turned off, I finally got my Michell Gyrodec SE going. It has some model of a Rega arm, and a cartridge I cannot identify. Not sure how to post photos here?
Due to several cross country moves, the stylus is bent. I do know it is a low output moving coil. I need to either replace the cartridge or fix the stylus if possible. It is tan with a red line going from the head to the slight V down by the stylus. Any suggestions would help as I feel I have a jigsaw puzzle without the lid right now.
The rest of the system is all tubes including the Wright phono stage, with a step up unit.
Soundsmith may be great but has a very long turn around time. VAS turned around two carts for me in two weeks. He also has a very good reputation as well and is recommended in many threads. https://vasnyinc.com/repair-service/ Billwojo |
You can sell your broken Denon to people like VAS or some other re-tippers and buy yourself a much better cartridge for anything under $500 and it will be MM or MI, not MC If you want a decent MC then prepare to spend over $1k If you want Denon you can find whatever model in 103 series under $350 in Mint condition or even new, including D, S or whatever index. All those cartridges are dirt cheap. |
@chakster Do you still have your denon? Did you try it in your ikeda arm. I never thought it was all that great until i tried it in my ikeda arm and it is quite musical. And does have a very appealing sound. In other arms I found it to sound less refined and less smooth. It needs a heavy arm. Fr64s probably a good match too. |
Chakster is a Denon hater, every chance he gets he puts the DL-103 and it's variants down. If you go on the internet and check around there is a whole lotta love for it from many folks out there. My favorite reports are from the folks that started with a DL-103 and moved up the chain to carts costing several thousand dollars. When the mega cart goes in for service and they put that old DL-103 back in service to tide them over they are very surprised.To a T they all say that the old Denon, while not the last word on detail is so more musical and how they missed that. I've seen a few very expensive systems that the owner could have anything he wanted running DL-103 carts. The nice thing is that they are cheap and broken ones very cheap. You can pick one up and for far less that an expensive cart would cost have a very fine cart. Plenty of mods from different body's, cantilever material and stylus shapes to play with. And you don't have to spend a big wad of cash to do it all in one shot, makes it budget friendly. Add a nice SUT (they like a SUT) with your MM phono stage and your set. BillWojo |
