Denon DL-103 -- Was it a mistake?

Jwglista,

When you say the alignment is "spot on" does that mean the VTA too? If the cartridge is tipped forward even a little, it can cause it to sound bright. You may be able to "tune" the sound more to your liking by adjusting the VTA a bit up at the front of the cartridge - which usually roles off the treble. If there is no VTA adjustment on the Satisfy tonearm, then you may have to shim the cartridge.

Sounds like you already tried putting some adhesive material on the tonearm head to increase the weight and dampen it a bit. Another thing to try is placing a small dot of blutack or other removable adhesive material symmetrically on each side of the counter weight and then re-balance the arm to see if it tames some of the liveliness. You could also try putting one or more dots of adhesive in different places along the length of the tone arm to see if that helps.

Don't know if you quelled the mushy bass problem, but that may have something to do with room vibrations as previously stated. Better isolation of your TT will likely help with that.

Good luck!

Well I've given this cart 50+ hours of time to settle in, and yes, it has become less aggressive and harsh in the treble, but it still sounds too harsh to me at times. It sounds great on some albums, but is very unforgiving on others. I will have to live with it until I get the Virtuoso back, simply because I have no other choice. But I can't say that I would suggest this cart to anyone in the future unless they have a properly matched tonearm. My assessment on the sound of this cart may not be fair, simply because I'm using a low mass tonearm. I am, however, enjoying the sound of my DacMagic. On many classical recordings, it simply blows away the DL-103, hands down.

I wouldn't recommend any cartridge to anyone unless they had a properly matched tonearm. In fact, it's borderline irresponsible to post what mounts to a negative review of a product based on improper use.

Rnm4: Apparently you missed the second half of that post which explicitly notes the fact that my assessment may not be fair due to an improperly matched tone arm. I don't really need you to reiterate that in a forceful and negative way. Thank you.

I'd check alignment more closely.

You've had problems with other cartridges in this regard.