Denon DL-103 -- Was it a mistake?

Audiofeil:

That was never the conclusion. The cantilever on that cartridge was sold to me bent, which I believe was causing a lot of problems. And since I bought it used, the stylus may also be worn (I never looked at it under a microscope).

As for the Denon, the alignment is spot on. I hear no signs of mistracking whatsoever, and inner groove distortion is nonexistent. So to answer your question, no that is not the issue here. I believe this has more to do with improper cartridge/tonearm matching. Or perhaps the DL-103 is inherently a slightly bright cartridge. I have a strong distaste for even slightly bright audio components, so that may be playing a part here as well.

One thing the 103 family isn't is bright; suspend judgment until 40-50 hours or so have passed and the cart settles in - personally, I've always found anything in excess of 2.55g (or so) to be detrimental as it stomps on the cart's suspension leading to a restriction of dynamics and hardening of the sound. If you still find it bright, I suggest playing around with your MC loading.

-Richard

or use step up transformer with the proper load for this gem! This is THE cartridge which was born this way!

No way a properly set up, sound DL103 is either bright unmusical. Something is amiss. Your impressions are the exact opposite of what the DL103 is known for, and what I've experienced for sure.

The specs on the Cambridge Audio Azur 640p state that the MC input is loaded at 100 ohm, 220 mF. From some of the other threads I've read, increasing the loading can actually make the cart sound brighter. Unfortunately, the 640p doesn't have a user selectable load setting. I'd have to physically take the unit apart and swap out resistors and/or caps.

I just wonder what could cause brightness. If it's a bad tonearm/cart match, then I'll never be able to fix that. From what I understand, a low compliance cart generates a lot of resonance, so perhaps the high frequency energy is just resonating all through the light arm tube of the Satisfy and becoming amplified. Or perhaps it's the all-acrylic body and acrylic platter. If it's burn in, then I can wait another 20-30 hours to find that out.

I'm also noticing that only certain albums sound bad. I believe it's the albums that are "cut hot", i.e. the ones where you can turn the volume down all the way and practically hear the song coming straight off the needle. To me this would indicate a problem with resonance. It's possible that the high frequency energy coming off the cartridge is resonating throughout the tonearm and causing treble feedback. If that is the case, I'm not sure how I could ever fix that without getting a different tonearm.