I have no experience with the "R" version of the venerable Denon, but the plain 103 takes about 50 hours to fully burn-in, though reported hours vary from 20 hours to 100 hours, probably a synergy thing going on here. And I agree with Patrickamory on the subject of the Denon anyway: it is one of the finest MCs or cartridges of any stripe available, period, full stop, the end. It's bass, sense of rhythm and timing, palpability, vivacity and most of all gestalt/"organic wholeness" is right up there with the very best, if not better. Can you spell "M-U-S-I-C"? Detail isn't everything. As for the theory that a conical tip precludes detail, one has to hear a Denon on a top-flight 'table to hear what it can REALLY do, which, due to price, is a very rare occurence. Though it may not be state of the art, one would never guess in a blind test that one was hearing a conical tip, and it easily bests most if not all MMs in this category in my experience, and I'm a very serious self-avowed MM-man. All kinds of theories/myths out there which are just waiting to be verified by experiment ;-). So play that baby on something serious if you have the chance, and it appears you do, Larry, and trust your ears, you'll have an instructive blast!
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Hey Johnnantais, there's something I mostly agree with you on. And also what Patrickamory is saying. I've had the venerable V15VxMR and a Benz Glider against the 103R. Both of these MC's track as well as the Shure. The combination of 103R/Vector was easily my choice over the Glider on a Graham 2.2. Now maybe it wasn't the absolute best with micro-dynamics, buth the 103R on a Vector was very musical but also had much better detail, quite surprising detail and bass. I can understand why Thom Mackris used a 103R for so long when traveling around. I think this also is in parallel with what Physicanimal is saying regarding trackability. The arm really does have a great impact on how this cartridge performs. (Well, duh, Dan.) I've gone back to an RB 300 recently as a temp solution until new toys arrive, but I can readily see where the Rega is lacking after having some much better arms to listen with. Still, one could do alot worse. Back on the subject of surface area and the conical shape. I seem to recall some pictures posted somewhere on this subject, and I do see this under magnification. If you look at the 103R stylus head-on it does have a conical shape. If you look at the stylus from the side, it more resembles a ax head. Like if you take a cone and stretch it along one axis that is parallel to the groove. This shape results in ample surface contact area even though it is not very deep in the groove. From what I understand about the development of this cartridge, it makes sense. Much like Psychicanimal has posted, many others have confirmed that the 103R does seem to play LP's that are not in the best of condition better than some other cartridges. I think it does pretty good on LP's that are in great condition as well. |
Actually, Doug, there are several issues at once here, besides breaking in (an unavoidable process). Record wear, trackability, stylus shape, the inadequacies of the analog medium and the cash outlay necessary for making low output MC's (and other low output designs, like some moving iron cartridges). Something good should come out of this. I recently found an Audio Tecnica AT-15S cartridge I was given by my father's friend who introduced me to high end when I was 14 years old. Also found a Shure V15 III he sold me for $30. I wonder if this $400 MM AT cartridge is essentially the same: http://www.needledoctor.com/s.nl/it.A/id.3822/.f?sc=7&category=578 Perhaps John N. can shed some light... *** |
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