Why do I like the Denon 103r so much?

If you use a tonearm with a removable headshell, you could swap in a heavier headshell to increase the effective mass. E.g., I have a Technics SL1210M5G. The stock tonearm eff. mass is 12g with the stock extremely light 7.5g headshell. The LPGear ZuPreme headshell weighs about 14 g, so that increases eff. mass to 18.5.

Another approach would be to get the Zu103, which with its solid aluminum body weighs quite a bit more than the stock DL103/103R.

I spoke with a dealer for Denon cartridges, and they suggest a Rega table, or a VPI Traveler. These, along w/ the WT Simplex, are all within budget. Beyond that, it would seem like I am dealing with tables not in current production, to mount a med/high mass arm. Not sure I want to go there, so I will likely go forward with one of the above.

I saw VPI Traveler at a show recently and took note it looked like a very good match for the 103R.