Denon DL-103 -- Was it a mistake?

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.

Audiofeil:

Lol you keep going back to that Virtuoso incident. That was simply due to a bent cantilever, which caused me to send it in for repair, which has ultimately put me in this situation using the DL-103 as a temporary replacement.

Either way, good suggestion; I will continue to check it periodically as I normally do (in case it somehow is jarred out of alignment when moving the tonearm). I'll also keep playing with VTA and VTF, but I already have the tail end down to tame the high frequencies. I feel this may just be a bad tonearm/cart match, or perhaps this cart just isn't my taste.

As a matter of psychology, at least some people will take away a negative impression of the DL103 from your reported dissatisfaction with it, despite the disclaimers that you didn't have it set up properly. That's why I think it's borderline irresponsible even to report on it. I's like spreading an unsupported and unflattering rumor.

That it doesn't sound good on a mismatched arm is absolutely no strike whatsoever against it; how it sounds on a mismatched arm is irrelevant to how it sounds properly set up. So why did you bother to report this, and reiterate it even after it was clear the arm was inappropriate?