Upgrade Denon 103 R to Shelter 501 II?

The Denon 103R is a killer cart at a killer price. The poor man's Koetsu. While it may not have the frequency extension of some of the newer carts, what it gets right - the midrange and the PRaT, many carts just don't cut it.

As for matching tonearms, my Schroeder model 2 with the brass mounting plate(+6g) works like a charm. Another modern arm which works well is the Scheu 12" Classic which doesn't cost an arm and a leg, so go figure.

I'd like to open up the discussion a bit to include other things. I just picked up a used 103R from another 'gon member, and am waiting for the rest of my Scillia / Merrill upgrade bits to bring my AR ES-1 to a higher level (yeah, I'm one of those guys). I picked the 103R because I have a high mass arm and because it is a match for this configuration, and is well regarded for its price. At a good price used it's almost a shoo-in.

In looking at the 103R frequency sweep I see that it has a broad shelf starting in the upper midrange through the treble. Less than 1dB, but as I understand it something that broad can be "heard" even if it is at 1dB or less. At 20KHz it is still within 1dB, so at least on the sweep it is not lacking in frequency extension but the profile may help explain its reputation as not being extended. I'm a believer in system and component matching, so I guess I'm wondering if the arm and table are a good basic match for the cart why wouldn't I be equally concerned about the tonearm cable? I think using a cable that supports the speed, openness, and extension that would complement the 103R would be the ticket. I'm looking for a cable that would fit that bill. For example, I've heard the Signal Cable Silver Resolution as an IC and found it to have many of the qualities that might make it a good complement for a 103R.

I guess my bottom line is that if careful matching is done to something like a 103R it may still be a viable solution for, maybe, high end analog (relative to its price).

Hi Springbok,

Patrick and Audifeil speak the truth, but this may still not be "your" truth.

Affix a nickel to the headshell of your Nottingham tonearm to increase the effective mass of your arm by about 5.5 grams.

Use Blu-tack, modeling clay, or two sided tape to stick the nickel to the headshell.

A 103R loves arms with 15 to 18 gram effective mass.

Reset the tracking force to between 2.5 and 2.6 grams and tell us what you hear with your 103R.

Note - if you are measuring tracking force with a Shure stylus gauge, you will be tracking low by .2 to .3 grams. Set to 2.7 to 2.8 if you're using a Shure.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

I have set the tracking force to 2.3 with just the cartridge andit sounds pretty darn good! I will try the nickel trick and let you know.

What were you tracking at before? I'd suggest tracking in the higher end of the range-at least 2.5 grams.

In my opinion (at least in my set-up) the cartridge sounds much better tracking at the higher end of the range. I track mine at 2.7 grams. The lower mass arm (if that's what you have) combined with the lower tracking force may be seriously limiting what you're getting out of the cartridge.