Denon DL-103 -- Was it a mistake?

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?

Rnm4:

I mean this in the least sarcastic way possible: are you a moderator of this forum? If not, then I really don't see where you get off trying to dictate what can and can't be posted in my thread. All of the comments made in it by others have been fairly constructive except for yours. If you have nothing better to do than spend time as a forum Nazi, then perhaps you need a second hobby. I'm not answering your question, simply because it's ridiculous. Anyone who reads this entire thread will clearly understand that my issues with the DL-103 *may* be related to an improperly matched tonearm. From my understanding (and I'd like to learn more about this, so please comment constructively if you have information), matching a tonearm properly against a cartridge's compliance helps improve bass performance. I'm curious as to how it would affect treble response. My guess is that upper frequency resonance is dampened poorly by the low mass of the tone arm itself.

I'd be curious to hear from some people who have heard a DL-103 on both a low and high mass tonearm to know what the difference in sound is like.

No I'm not. I think it's constructive to point out when someone is erroneously acting as if he or she has reasons to think there may be something amiss with a product -- especially one as widely admired as the DL103. Just what constructive point is there is stating that a cartridge badly set up doesn't please you? hey folks, I think prime porterhouse steak just as good as everyone says; I burnt one up well done, and it was dry and flavorless!