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Swapping the MMF 5 for an SL-1210M5G

Hey everyone:

What are your thoughts on this move?? My original record player was a Yamaha YP-D6 from the late 70s and though it was a little jittery and such, there was something about the bass control on a direct drive that I miss now when compared to the MMF 5. I have to admit though, when I swapped out the TTs (while keeping the same phono cartridge) there was a noticable improvement on it's smootheness and the music rounded out very nicely.
neway317
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 

06-19-08: Tvad
I'm withdrawing my endorsement of the DL103R with the Technics SL12xx, because according to the resonance calculator on cartridgedb.com, the Denon 103R is not a good match for the 12 gram Technics tonearm. It's well out of the green zone for acceptable matches.
But if you swap out the very light Technics headshell for a 12g Sumiko or LPGear, or a 15g Audio Technica Technihard, you can get the resonant frequency down to the 11's. Add the fluid damper and it flattens the resonance out, wherever it is.

All is not lost.

Personally, I'm grooving right now to my brand new AT 150MLX. Mounted on an LPGear Zupreme HS, the resonance comes right in at 10 Hz, plus I have the fluid damper. It's a beautiful match. The cantilever on that thing is amazing. It's so thin you can only make it out by the gleam of its gold plating.
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heyitsmedusty's avatar
heyitsmedusty
227 posts
 
Do the numbers support the Dynavector 10x5?
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
With a 12-15g headshell (e.g., Sumiko, Audio Technica Technihard) in lieu of the stock 7.5g one, yes.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
06-20-08: Tvad
The Cartridge Database resonance chart for the 103R indicates that no tonearm mass from 4gm all the way to 30gm will get the resonance to 11Hz.
Right you are. I should have used the chart instead of relying on my math. Even a heavy headshell only gets the 103R into the 13's.

I do wonder, however, if the DL-103 series should be calculated at the stated compliance of 5 or figured more as 7 or 8. The Catridge Database does mention that Denon cites their compliance at 100 Hz instead of 10KHz (as, presumably, other cartridge mfrs do), which could result in a higher figure.

For example, if you use a 15g Technihard headshell and pretend the DL-103 has a compliance of 7.5, resonance calculation goes down to about 10.9 Hz.

At Denon's stated compliance, the best I can come up with (using a 15g headshell) is about 12.5 Hz. Time to tape some pennies to the headshell? :-)

For all this talk about the DL-103 series, you can get an AT150MLX, AT OC9 II, or Denon DL-301 MkII to easily match to an SL12x0 arm at 9-10 Hz, usually with the 12g Sumiko (or equivalent) headshell.
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