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Denon 103r and the SpinStage transimpedance phono preamp

I have a stable of cartridges all mounted up and ready to go for when I feel like changing up the sound a little. Most of them are more modest than my regular cartridge. My "daily-driver" is a Ortofon Synergy G SPU cartridge, which I run through a Zesto Andros ll phono preamp.  I like the combo a lot. But tonight I mounted up the Denon 103r, and hooked it up to a $250 SpinStage phono preamp. 

 

I was really surprised to find how thoroughly engaging the sound was. It was descriptive and rich at the same time. I would have no problem with this combo being in daily use. I wondered if it was the Denon's good match for the transimpedance-style phono preamp that was making me so happy. 

 

I am well aware that the amount of money spent, in almost all endeavors,  does not guaranty satisfaction. But this combination kind of reset my thinking about  the art of phonography. Does anyone else have inexpensive cartridge/phono preamp combos that light them up?

 

David

dtorc
theophile's avatar
theophile
410 posts
 

Athough I haven’t dipped a toe in the transimpedance waters I suspect that inidividual TI phono stages have some golden combinations with certain cartridges whilst others are just MEH. I’m also certain that it doesn’t cross-correlate between different TI implementations, just which cartridges are going to be golden or meh. More of a ’suck it and see’ type situation in each and every case.

Of course, it stands to reason that the same could be said about voltage type devices anyway.

lewm
14,699 posts
 

Theophile, that’s why I mentioned that results with TI phono stages seem to depend not only on the cartridge characteristics but also on the actual input impedance of the stage.  From my research (the data are hard to come by, because most manufacturers will say input impedance is "zero"), it seems to vary among different units from less than one ohm to as high as 10-12 ohms. That might be why different combinations of cartridge and TI phono can sound qualitatively different. Or to put it another way, you might not get the sound you expect when you mate a familiar LOMC with a new TI stage. And I’m guessing that (impedance matching) is the reason.

mapman's avatar
mapman
23,618 posts
 

Been running Denon dl103R on my Linn Axis for years.  Set up right on proper higher mass tonearm, it's an end gamer for all but the most obsessed.

dtorc OP
110 posts
 

Thanks for you thoughts. I guess I just count my blessings that for me, this combo of the D103r and the Spinstage works. Still some mysteries in Audio...

lewm
14,699 posts
 

It’s not a mystery.  You may find that TI sounds even better with a LOMC that has a much lower internal R. Or not. You will probably get more apparent gain with a lower internal R cartridge, but apparently you don't need it.

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