Upgrade Denon 103 R to Shelter 501 II?

I went from a Denon 103R to a Denon 103D and then a Benz Micro L2 and finally a Shelter 501 II. I sold them all and went back to the 103D. The Shelter really reminded me of the Denon. I wouldn't say its a great difference let alone improvement over the Denon.

I have to add this though... I've recently retired the Denon (I'll never sell it) and have started buying old Audio Technica MM carts from the late 70's and early 80's and I'm very much enjoying the sound of these cartridges as well. In fact, I'd stack my AT155LC from 1981 against the Shelter 501 MkII any day. (And the AT was $80.)

My TT is a VPI HW-19 MK III and my Tonearm is a RB300 with new cardas wire and a drop counterweight. My phono pre is the Acoustech PH-1.

I think that Patricka hit it on the head. The Denon D 103 versions etc have been around forever and are thus cheap by comparison but the equipment to use it correctly is not. The Denon DL103 needs a quality heavy arm with good bearings. I don't know that unipivot designs will cut it... What does the manufacturer recommend for that deck/arm? They should have listened to many combos and have some thoughts.

I've used a 103R since April and couldn't be more pleased. Reports on the quality of this cartridge are all over the place, although most of what your hear about the 103 and 103R is positive. Mixed reviews seem to abound, however, with the Rega arms with some users having good luck and others none at all. From all the reading I've done, it seems to me that the 250 is a poor match with the 103 and 103R while many users may be happy (or unhappy as it may be) with the 300.

For what it's worth, I use my 103R with a Premiere FT3, a fairly low budget medium mass arm. The FT3 does have damping capability though, and that damping capability makes a substantial difference in the performance of the Denon. A poster at the Vinyl Asylum recently pointed out to me that in reading that he had done it recommended that the Denon's be used in either a high mass arm or a medium mass arm with damping capability. So for those out there with medium mass plus damping, the Denons could be your ticket. I've also found that about 4.5 to 5 grams of blue tak on top of my headshell made a subtle but definitely audible improvement with the 103R. My FT3 is on an older Michell Gyrodec and I'm using a decidedly low budget phono stage (about $200 retail), but the 103R easily and grossly surpasses the Ortofon MC 20 Super I replaced, which was a) a much more expensive cartridge and b) supposedly a much better match in terms of compliance with my tonearm.

So experimentation may be in order for you. At $250 the 103R is a pretty cheap experiment that, as one poster above pointed out, you can probably recover most of your money on if it doesn't work out. And if it does work out, you will probably be very happy. When I bought my table used many years ago, it came with a Koetsu Black which I used for a number of years. I can buy 6 or 7 103R's for one Koetsu Black and, although my system may not have been as good (and it's still pretty middle of the road or even low budget compared to most Audiogoners) in those days, I can tell you that is what I intend to do. I feel absolutely no need to buy anything other than a 103R. In my modest system, it does a lot of things right.

Thank you all for your help. I will try the Denon for a while - if unhappy, I will get the Shelter 501. I am told that this is Analog's cartridge of choice when they show the Spacedeck.

Patrick wrote

The only problem with the low price is that people constantly underestimate the value of the partnering equipment. The Denon wants a high-mass, heavy-duty arm with high-quality bearings to drive its stiff, short cantilever and comparatively high weight. Such tonearms do not come cheap - you're talking Ikeda, Ortofon, FR, old-style SME (with steel knife-edge bearings) etc

Considering that this cartridge was initially made for the broascast industry, You have given a very good explanation of its characteristics. That industry mostly used high mass 12" arms. This also explains why it is used more successfully by vintage equipment users as well, since vintage generally used higher mass arms than todays newer arms, which are usually low or medium mass. Yes, one can spend a lot of money to buy a 12" arm, but there are a lot of good arms which will not get optimum performance from the 103 due to incompatibility. In short, the cartride was engineered for 40 yr old table/arm combo, but is generall not a good match for newer lighter arms.