Breaking in a new cartridge,..Denon DL 103 R.

Let me join in and support "hdm" and "Psychicanimal" sagacious advice. A 7" 45 RPM record dance record with lots of octave divided synthesized bass is GREAT for break-in because 45's are cut 12dB hotter than LPs. I do not know if 45 EPs are cut hotter as well or not. After 10-15 hours you will know basically what you have and between there and 50-60 hours it just gets better - kind of "warms up".

For cartridge matching please see my old primer article on 6 Moons Audio (I think that it is still there?). The DCR is 40 Ohms and the impedance is well .. who knows... cartridge impedance is a misnomer. The 100 Ohm load thing is just a convenient guess, or starting point, provided by the manufacturer. The overall electrical system is too complex for any absolutes - it all MUST be derived empirically.

My advice? No? Well I'll give it anyway... eventually try to forget active (head amp) and go with transformers for MC step-up! The UTC A-11 based box I built for Jeff Day's Denon 103D or the Altec 4722 sound simply wonderful with the 103R,D,S, etc. series.
Active's are nice at being flexible for a wide range of cartridges but a good transformer is far superior at really hearing the cartridge.

The DENON MC cartridges are absolutely a bargain! Even in today's market! Yes, they have their foibles and limitations but they definitely provide "most bang for the buck!" OTOH, they just might get you hooked on MC cartridges. ;^)

My old primer on MC phono step-up transformers can be found on 6 Moons Audio at:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/stepup/primer.html

Enjoy! :)

Hi Dan,
Thanks for checking it out - you may have recognized Sandy Gross (Definitive Technologies), Terry O'Sullivan (Garrard/Loricraft), Roger Tolbridge (Garrard/Loricraft), and Frank Schroder (Schroeder ?).
Not everyone likes the same things - that's what makes horse races (or something like that?). Anyway since we are talking about DL-103 series I really like the ALTEC 4722's (set at 150 Ohms) with this DENON series of MC cartridges. But then again I'm a nut (as you can see from the article photos) that likes heavily restored vintage equipment. The 4722's work well with quite a few other MC cartridges as well. So they really provide an excellent starting point.

The UTC A-11 unit that Jeff Day borrowed for awhile (He returned it and I still have it) is another nice step-up. A bit more flexible as it has 50, 100 and 200 Ohm settings.

I really have not noticed any "filtering" effect of the micro-dynamic information by using step-up transformers but perhaps you are speaking more of the readily available commercial versions. Also, everyone that hears my transformers (and some others) has reported favorably.
Personally I think it all depends upon the preamp phono stage input impedance. I do not care too much for the active RIAA type for many reasons. The passive type usually presents a much more stable and predictable input impedance to any step-up device.

I have never really found any (Shelter, Denon, Audio Note, Ortofon_ of the commercial step-up transformer devices to be to my liking. I don't exactly know why but they leave me wanting. Probably because I know that they are not tailored for specific things but are more "generic" or a "guess" at what will be "generally acceptable" to consumers (a.k.a. "will work with a wide range of preamps"). I mentioned this tidbit in the MC article as well. I find it intellectually vacant for cartridge specs to mention "impedance" at all as all it does is convolute matters. Cartridge manufacturers rarely, if ever, actually run impedance curves on their cartridges. When confronted with this fact they use the Mikey Fremer defense logic of "what difference would it make? It's what consumers HEAR that matters". Hence many users just select active where "tweaking" is a LOT easier and more straightforward from a conceptual point of view.
Tom

Although I have never heard one, I can't blame you about liking the Nick Doshi Alaap MC FET active step-up. Seems like custom made stuff that is easily tweaked by the user. Probably not for the average bear though.

Bent Audio Mu step ups do not interest me as they also seem like a compromise for the masses. Small transformers, resistive loading, etc.

DaVinci MC step-up transformers look like something that is noteworthy but I have never heard one, nor do I know how much they cost. However they appear to be REAL magnetics and not tinker toys in a fancy box.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Are using a Tri-planar still or a Schroder?