Denon DL-103 "one of the...."

Eno, no. Retip (at least from soundsmith) does not lower compliance... How ever, ss will rebuild the 103s suspension for lower compliance if one is willing to pay for that. It may however lower the VTF due to the change in diamond shape. But if you like the 103 you'll love it w a new body or tip.

I have been trying to find a cart at or about the $1k mark that delivers a significant up grade - not just a little more of this or that - if anyone has a recommendation - do tell! But for now I will most likely wait until I can afford a cart around $3 k.... But the more I learn, the more I'm sure price is NOT assurance of improvement

@mattmiller Where did you come up with a compliance of 25x10-6? The published spec is 5x10-6 at 100Hz, which I believe equates to around 10x10-6 at 10Hz. If you look around, you'll see some folks did some math and tests, and found it to be around 7-8, actually.

Further, if the compliance was indeed 25, mating the DL-103 to a high-mass tonearm is the last thing you'd want to do.

The 103 is a good bang for the buck, but there are better carts for less than $400.

Phduncon,

I thought an indicator of higher compliance was a lower tracking force? So if the retip lowers the tracking force doesn't that raise the compliance? Not being well versed I think I am missing something obvious or key to the conversion.

Any light shed on the subject would be appreciated.

Enobenetto,
Yes, higher compliance is associated with lower tracking force and high compliance carts are usually mated with low mass arms. If you use a high cu cart on a high mass arm the resultant low resonance frequency may or may not have warp tracking implications, but SQ is often compromised with slow or sluggish response. On the other hand, use a low cu cart (103) on an arm too light for the cart, and resultant resonance is too high in frequency and can have severe intermodulation in the audio band.

Converting 100Hz cu to 10Hz, isn't straightforward. There is no single multiplier that works in all cases. It also doesn't seem to work at the extremes. A 100Hz cu of 6.5 = 15cu @ 10Hz, while 10 cu @ 100 = 18 cu @ 10. A cart with 100Hz cu of 16 is a little more compliant than another of 10cu. Clearly the multiplier diminishes with higher cu, except the 103 seems lower than the scale indicates. On another forum a physicist said that 100Hz cu isn't true compliance, but rather a measure of tracking ability at 100Hz.

Sometimes terms are generalized and it's not clear exactly what your "retip" entails. If a cantilever was grafted onto an existing one, then the cart probably retains the original compliance, as in a tip only replacement. A more sophisticated tip profile might result in a lower VTF. Some carts can have cu manipulated by the retipper and you should consult with him about possibilities or the results of your retip.

The elliptical tip has the smallest contact area, a tiny oval. The .2 x .7 elliptical is the smallest, unless there's one with a smaller minor radius (.2). That minor radius describes the width of the contact area and that's why its sound is more detailed. The most common elliptical is .3 x .7. Extended contact tips extend contact vertically and that's why they can have a very small minor radius for detail, and contact part of the groove that hasn't been tracked by one with a shorter contact area. It's also the reason set-up is so fussy. Since a conical doesn't have a distinguishing profile, it's more forgiving.
Regards,