Help Viridian will a Denon 103 work in a Rega arm

Everything I have read so far implies the 103R bests the standard 103. I can purchase a new 103 for $116 less then the 103R. Have I been misinformed?

In this thread and several others on this site, folks prefer the 103 to the 103R so EVERYTHING you've read cannot be in favor of the 103R. :-)

Seriously, some will agree, some will disagree. The only way to fnd out is to listen for yourself. Or, if you have found that there is someone whose word is correct in every instance, follow their advice and hope they are correct in this case, too.

"Bests" is in terms of qualities usually sought after by audiophiles, in this case (in most cases actually) mostly detail. Extracting more detail from the venerable Denon DL-103 is achieved at a cost which is acceptable, or inaudible, or unimportant to some; and important and unacceptable to others. The plain vanilla DL-103 is considered by many Denon aficionados (not all, or even the majority) to be the best-balanced and most integrated of all Denon DL-103s: all frequencies singing as a united whole, timing across the frequency spectrum also united and thus extremely compelling, the area which makes the Denon such a classic (also the dynamics and drive, and the large and beautiful midrange). According to those who have owned a variety and come back to the plain DL-103, the extra detail of the other versions disturbs this balance and causes some brightness, aggressiveness and coarseness problems, as well as some unevenness. Others swear by the improvements, at least some of these because they automatically equate more detail with superiority, and deny costs, or do not hear them, or are not sensitive to any cost. I personally love the plain vanilla edition, which I find so good in every respect, indeed supremely balanced and musical to a degree I have never yet heard from any other MC, that I am not remotely interested in purchasing the other and pricier variants. In fact, I would be afraid to mess with the formula, afraid to disturb its supreme balance, which is clearly audible. Not that I wouldn't be interested in hearing one of these variants given an opportunity (especially the "D" version), and see if the balance truly is disturbed. So you've not been misinformed exactly, but it is more difficult to find the writings of those who are willing to sacrifice detail for balance and poise in this era of Detail Uber Alles (a consequence of the Information Age), or even consider these things important.

Viridian, the Denon works superbly well in the Rega RB300, with or without tweaks. I track mine at roughly 2.2 grams, but friends of mine like it at 2.5. I'm still experimenting.

..Of course, said in another way.... ;-)

I've heard of folks tracking theirs heavier, too, but that decidedly wasn't what worked in our expereince with an Origin Live Silver. The 250, 300, etc. must be different in that regard because I've heard others with those arms were in the 2.0+ range, as I recall. Funny, too, because I think 2.2 is at the extreme end of what Denon suggests. (?) Everyone I've spoken with who had the OL arms preferred the lighter weight. I will leave it to someone with more technical chops to explain why that might ne the case.

Viridian,

Better tonearm wire doesn't mean a thing in terms of the ability of the Denons and the Rega to live happily together. With respect to weight and resonant frequency, they're a good match.

The 103 and 103R are both swell. The cheaper 103 is terrific. And, to echo the comments of others, VTA changes haven't made a big difference with these carts, chez moi. I wouldn't worry about spacers, etc.

Milo