If you feel the need to increase effective mass of your present tonearm, there is always the strategy of adding weight to the headshell or just buying and using a heavier headshell. I have long been touting the Ortofon LH9000 headshell, which weighs 18g, for this purpose. I too own a Denon DA307 tonearm, and its headshell is very light weight, less than 10g. I think it was aimed at MM cartridges with high compliance. So if your headshell is similar or identical, you may well benefit from one of the two strategies to increase effective mass, without the expense and labor required to buy a different tonearm and mount it. The DL103 cartridge has a notoriously low compliance. I know a local guy with a very elaborate system who nevertheless is hooked on the DL103; he runs it in a massive bespoke tonearm which by the looks of it may have an effective mass of 50g.
Upgrade My Denon DP80 Tonearm
Hello!
So for the last year or so, I have been enjoying my Denon DP80 with a DK300 plinth, DA 402 Long tonearm, and Denon 103 cart. In my (now current) interest in looking at sonic improvements to this set up, I read that the 402 a low mass tonearm and not well suited to the 103. So I began my due diligence on a Denon tonearm that would not require me to drill any new holes in the plinth...a drop in exchange of sorts. Google AI searches suggests that the 307 and 401 would fit this bill, but they look like shorter arms. For those with Denon knowledge, What would you recommend be my next tonearm pursuit, and what about a head shell? The 402 appears to have a proprietary (low mass) one integrated into the arm. I thank you in advance for your time in reading and replies...may they be kind and related to the topic at hand.
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Dear @laaudionut : @viridian is right and even if your tonearm is low mass the cartridge 103 has around 9cu, it's not really low compliance and that's why works fine in your set up. Don't make any change with and follow enjoying.
Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
For those interested in better science behind Tonearm mass and cartridge matching see Alex Kort and his calculator available online for free. on the subject of tracing error sonic impact… it takes an incredible amount of work, engineering and design of experiment chops plus ears to draw a repeatable conclusion about the inherent tradeoffs …. Of course the Sonic myth one holds dear as personal truth is the most defensible…. |
- 21 posts total