Best Cartridge for VPI Aries orig + JMW 10.5 ?

Pboutin, the standard DL103 has a compliance rating of 5cu, which is very stiff in the suspension, and actually is the stiffest cartridge in the world, that I know of. The DL103D is a different compliance rating, I think it is 15cu, and is more of a medium compliance cartridge.

The interaction of the cartridge compliance and the tonearm is a fairly important one, which relates to the energy fed into the tonearm by the cartridge suspension as it plays the record. Low compliance(stiff) cartridges feed much more energy into the arm than medium or high compliance ones do. This energy can "push" the arm around, in a microscopic way, and influence the effectiveness of the information retrieval from the grooves. The mass of the tonearm should be selected according to the compliance of the cartridge. This is particularly critical in the horizontal mass component of the arm. Also, in a unipivot, the azimuth may also be affected by this, and be in a constantly changing condition when playing a low compliance cartridge.

In general, I recommend that unipivots be used with medium or higher compliance cartridges, although there are a few unipivots that have some design features that mitigate this somewhat. Arms like the Graham 2.2 have stabilizers which keep the arm a little more stable than other unipivots.

I personally think that the standard DL103 cartridge is much too stiff for a JMW arm, and although it will play the music, I don't think that the best possible performance will be attained with this configuration. I'd recommend a high quality gimbal-bearing tonearm for the DL103. The "ol fashioned" DL103 Art talks about could be either the 103D or the 103, but I think he is referring to the 103D. That is a much better match for the JMW than the standard 103 is.

thanks everyone for the responses so far...based on what i've heard so far it seems to come down to helikon vs. sumiko celebration. can anyone besides ljgj compare the two? also, vpi is recommending the dynavector xx-2h...does anyone have any thoughts on that? thanks again for all the good advice...

I think the Helikon or Celebration would be better choices than the Dynavector XX-2H. They are a little higher in compliance(12cu), and will put the arm under less stress than the (10cu) Dynavector. Call me crazy, but I still don't think that unipivots handle low compliance cartridges well at all. I know, I know, others think that you can just slap any cartridge on any arm, and everything will be just peachy. Sorry, but I don't agree.

TWL,
In this article, Art suggest categorically but not without humour that, " low compliance cartriges are to high mass arms, what dogs are to pick-up truck", sounds like a perfect ride to me.
Because the pragmatic successfull result obtained in using his low compliance Denon 103, (refered as such by him), with the high mass Memorial cannot be discarded, I am left to favor his theorical interpretation of the low compliance c.-high mass t. a. relationship over the opposite one witch you have proposed earlier and althought this remain the conundrum that it is the fact remain that Art's personnel low compliance Denon 103 as out-done itself when partnered with high mass Memorial arm. What do you thinck of it ?

I would agree with the dog and pick up truck statement. Unfortunately, the JMW arm is not in the high-mass category. Oh, it might be high-mass compared to a Black Widow tonearm, but not in the broader sense. An arm(JMW) that is around 11 grams effective mass, is a medium mass arm. Heavy arms start around 12 grams effective mass, and higher, and the higher ones are more suitable for a very very low compliance cartridge like the DL103. I did some checking on the ideal combined mass of a DL103 and tonearm, and it comes to about 21.5 grams. Since the cartridge itself is about 8.5 grams, that would make a tonearm of about 13 grams optimal for this cartridge.

Now I don't say that a lighter arm couldn't handle it, but it would lose some of the dynamics and bass and detail in the process, from being overdriven by the cartridge.
Also, I would venture to say that since the JMW is a unipivot, it will have azimuth changes during play with this cartridge. It is unavoidable with this combination of ultra-low compliance and unipivot design. It's going to rock and roll.

I have owned and used a number of these Denon cartridges, including the DL103 and DL103R, and am very familiar with their needs, and my viewpoint is not strictly theoretical. I used them on arms that were 11 grams, and ones that were almost 12 grams, and the cartridge was clearly overdriving both of those arms. And they were gimbal-bearing type arms, which give far better stablity, and at least don't change azimuth during play. This led to my development of a tonearm mod, that was required in order to get the proper result from my use of this cartridge, with my available tonearms.

Suffice it to say that I am in disagreement with Art Dudley and his findings.

In the end, if you like what you are using, that is all that matters. I have had this discussion with many JMW owners over the past 2 years. This subject always comes up. It is very difficult for me to be as diplomatic as I'd like, and still tell the truth. I try to help, but people don't want to hear what I have to say.