How do you tame a Denon DL-S1?

Dear Rsimms: The DLS1 is very good performer but to shows at its best it needs and active high gain phonolinepreamp. Tube electronics usually has not enough gain with low noise and SUT's ( including the Denon one. ) along additional ICs only degrade the cartridge signal, it can't improve it.

IMHO with your electronics you choosed the wrong cartridge. Every electronics technology has its own limits and the DLS1 is out of the tube technology limits to achieve the best that cartridge can shows you.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

I use the Denon DLS-1 with a Ypsilon MC25 going to a Audio Exklusive P2 phono (solid state) and ground the motor controller, tonearm, phono to the Troy. All natural detail with no compromises.

Raul,

What about using a head amp? I have a Solo head am that works good but it is a bit to romantic and veiled. Would the MF RM4 or the Picolo be better? What phonostage would you suggest?

Bob

I agree with Raul. You may get by with a step-up, but this is unlikely to reveal the cartridge's potential. IME the DL-S1 sounds best loaded under 100R. This reduces gain further, compounding problems for all but a high-gain phono stage. I load it at 80R. A few owners have reported optimal loading at 30-40R.

It's an interesting cartridge-- one of the few MCs with non-permeable coil formers. This design choice may account for its high performance at the cost of reduced output.

You need additional gain, so you have three options: 1/ add a step-up transformer, 2/ add an active pre-preamplifier, 3/ get a preamp with a MC input with the two gain stages you need internally cascaded.

Loading requirements are different for SUT and for active amplification, since the cartridge doesn't see a simple resistor the same electrically, across the audio bandwidth, as a transformer. I generally agree that loading the DL-S1 somewhat higher than Denon recommends will be your preference but there's a lot of latitude for experimentation between 40-1000 ohms.

I have both active and Xformer step-ups in my various phono systems. I don't even slightly agree that the cartridge's full potential can't be extracted via SUT, but it is a matter of getting the right one. Denon's own transformers aren't best for this. The Cinemag (blue) SUT that Bob's Devices sells, and the EAR MC3 or MC4 do the job well, at disparate price points. As for a quiet, stable, revelatory companion active phono stage that has the gain you need, I can recommend the Jasmine LP2.0 (70db total gain), and the Bel Canto Phono3 or the older Phono1. All three are solid state and I know personally they mate well with the DL-S1 and sound good.

Phil