Denon DA 307 and DA 309

To brush or not to brush is an interesting and debatable question.  I elect not to use the brush, but I have no firm philosophy in mind except I am averse to attachments that could do harm as well as good.  One logical objection to the brush, that I have read elsewhere so it is not my idea, is that the brush "rattles" in the stylus mount assembly, which does not seem like something you want to happen so close to the contact between stylus in groove, which you want to be minutely sensitive.  In fact, the mounting is not damped, which would have been a good idea. But I wouldn't argue with anyone who likes to use the brush.  It used to be a common source of discussion, back in the good old days when these excellent cartridges were available and in vogue.

VTF is not always or necessarily inversely proportional to compliance, but in this case I guess it is, if Chak says so. Also, historically many users removed those brushes from the Pickering and Stanton cartridges prior to use. If you consult the Internet you might find out why they did that. I really don’t remember myself. But I do own several of the exotic Pickering and Stanton cartridges, and I do remove the brush when I use them. For me, it just removes a level of complication and uncertainty that I would rather not deal with. When I mentioned the difficulty of setting the VTA with a tonearm that requires set screws on the vertical shaft to hold and secure the VTA, I was only referring to the fact that you somehow have to find the correct setting and hold the tonearm exactly at that height while also tightening the set screws. I remember when I purchased my Triplanar tonearm probably in the late 80s or early 90s, what a godsend that was for setting VTA.

Use the 2 little screws and drive yourself nuts trying to find the exact correct height, hold the vertical shaft at that exact point in space, and tighten the two little screws, all at the same time.  Easy for anyone with three hands.  Which is why tonearms with adjustable VTA towers were such a godsend. Ask wife or close friend to help.  IMO, the DA307 is a bit low in effective mass to get the best out of the Denon DL103 or any of its relatives, unless you ditch the headshell in favor of a heavier one.