Cartridge Recommendations

The SUT idea is a valid one. It's a pitty the Ortofon M-20 fl super is no longer available on eBay NOS. For $179 this cartridge holds it's own against offerings costing thousands more(I have many LOMCs). If you see one for sale, don't hesitate. It's a MI and I would think it would work great with the 9" VPI arm. William Thakker does still have the NOS replacement styli on eBay. I just bought two so I can use this cartridge for years to come. Provided you could find a cartridge, for your $500 budget you could easily buy the cartridge and a couple replacement styli and be set for years and probably have enough left for some great vinyl.

Bob's Devices responded to my email. He only has 1 SUT available for under 500.00 and it only offers 10db of gain. It won't be enough for my setup. I would have to run the volume control on the preamp way up near 3 o clock.

I am thinking of a Soundsmith Otello or a Dynavector 10 X 5 cartridge. Anyone have experience with either?

The Bob's Devices SUT is a 1:10 stepup. That will stepup your Zu/Denon 103 from .3mv to 3mv. It is listed with 20db of gain, not 10. That should be more than enough. Link is below:

http://www.bobsdevices.com/15095.htm

I would look for a used Silvercore "1 to 10" SUT. They retail for around $650, so a used one should be in your price range.

IMHO, the (2) carts you list above are not as good as what you have.

Agree with the SUT suggestion (Bob's Devices)if you like the Denon.