Denon DL 103 vs DL 103R

Grimace, you missed a point when you said "It does seem like the step-up transformers are considerably less expensive that full phone stages." As I tried to explain, a full phono stage includes both RIAA compensation and at least one gain stage. A step up transformer is only a gain stage so it cannot function by itself, it must feed a phone stage with the RIAA compensation. That is why they are (sometimes) less expensive.

Also, thanks Hdm for the correction on the 103R output.

OK. Seems there's more to using this cartridge than I would have thought. Am I understanding that there are phono stages that will work directly with this cartridge? Does anyone have any suggestions for a phono stage that would work with this cartridge without a SUT? I'd like to keep my purchases to no more than two items if possible.

Grimace, to operate either Denon straight into a phono stage, it should provide at least 60 dB of gain. Many will do so. And not to get you sidetracked here but offering adjustable loading would be important too. At the very least you will want to bring the load down from the standard 47K ohms to 100 or even less.

Now, a different consideration. I just checked your system and see you will be using a Grace 707 arm. If I remember correctly, this is a low mass arm so will not match well (resonance frequency) with either Denon cartridge.

To simplify your life (minimal purchases) I would suggest you research cartridges with 1.0 mV output or higher that are compatible (high compliance) with your 707 arm and that fall within your budget. This could be either a high output MC or a MM. Learn the proper set up procedure (archive search here and Vinyl Asylum) and go for it. After listening and learning about differences in SRA and VTF, see how well you are enjoying your system. Then, if need be you can begin to consider improvements. Good luck.

ditto Pryso. Not to confuse you but bear in mind that cartridge output specs can be referenced two ways, for example a .8mV@3.54cm/sec is the same as 1.13mV@5cm/sec. They don't always tell you which reference they use so a little research on what the standard is for that company is in order. As a further example, the Medium output MCs from Benz are .8mV@3.54cm/sec. This would be sufficient output for your phono stage and their compliance of 15 would be a minimum for that arm. The Denon 103 and 103R have a very low compliance of 5. Most MCs are going be a marginal match for that arm compliance-wise.

OK. This is getting off into stuff I know nothing about, but its a good thing you're telling me. Can you explain "compliance" a little more?

I also have a weight issue with the G707. The Shure, at 6 grams, has the counterweight spun pretty far out back. Any further and it would be bouncing off the cover when the needle reaches the dead wax. I am discovering that this arm has its limitations.