Denon DL-103 -- Was it a mistake?

Audiofeil:
"I'm not trying to hide my "promotion" of the Mint LP. I am a very strong advocate of the device.

I also have no financial interest in it if that's your implication."

That was never my implication.

"And I have no grudge; based on your posts it appears you lack the skills and/or understanding to properly align a phono cartridge."

If you are as experienced as you make yourself out to be, I highly doubt you jump to such conclusions when considering analog setup. It is clear that there are several other factors here that have contributed to my problems with the DL-103: tonearm match, phono stage match, etc. So to say that "based on my posts" I lack the understanding on how to align a cartridge as if it's the sole cause of my issues here shows your own lack of understanding of how to arrive at an overall synergy in system setup. You may have more years of experience doing this, but "based on your posts" it appears you lack knowledge as well if that is your stand, or you simply failed to read all the posts in this thread.

Hi,

"What was your setup like other than the Rega when using the 103?"

I'm not sure exactly what you mean... I was using a Rega P25 with the RB600 arm, and used both a Phonomena phono, and then switched to the built in phono in my Supratek Syrah preamp. Loaded at 100ohms.

All in all, it sounded quite good, with none of the harshness that you are encountering. Granted, this doesn't apply to you that much, because your table/arm/phono are completely different, not to mention, I highly doubt that all 103s are manufactured perfectly alike.

Hopefully you'll get better results with the Ortofon

Goatwuss:

Sorry for being a bit vague. I was just curious what the rest of your system was like (phono pre, etc.).

I haven't really decided if I want to sell the Denon or not, just because I'd like to install it on another TT some day to hear how it sounds in a proper setup. I'm curious as to what specifically makes the Cambridge 640p a bad match to the DL-103, since loading is usually set at 100 ohms for this cart, and that's what the 640p provides.

Good to know you are enjoying yours. I know my Paradigm speakers with the aluminum dome tweeters can be very unforgiving on bright recordings and bright sounding equipment, so that did not help the DL-103 out at all in my incorrectly-matched setup.

I too hope to get better results with the Ortofon. I will definitely report back here once I've got things settled in.

Regarding loading the DL-103, my experience tells me it needs to be higher
than 100 ohms. The matching Denon SUTs load it at 470 ohms (at least my
AU-320 does). I now have an Aesthetix Rhea that permits on-the-fly loading
changes via the remote (yeah, the ultimate couch potato phonostage) and it
sounds best to me at 500 ohms. Too "scrawny" at 100 ohms, IME.