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Affordable Mono Cartridge For VPI Scout

I have a Shelter 501 with my scout/super platter, but I have several mono records and an interest in music from the 1950s. I am looking into getting a new arm wand to experiment. Shelter has a Mono cartridge, but the price seems ridiculous to me, at $1,750, plus I might as well take the opportunity to experiment with a different sounding cartridge. So far, I have been thinking about Lyra Dorian, Cartridge Man Music Maker, the Sound Smith Denon mods or one of the Benz mono cartridges. I'll upgrade my table when finances permit, probably a few years from now....looking for a cartridge that will be good for a long time, even with a better table (e.g, TW-Acustic). Any suggestions would be much appreciated. All the best, Mark
mcmprov
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I am including a link , if it will go on, to a Denon 102 Mono on ebay by Yogi Comp. I have bought 2 cartridges from them and been very happy. It runs $175 so not too much invested, Denon makes some very good moving coils that are absurdly cheap by todays standards. Also available in high output.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Denon-DL102-Mono-Moving-Coil-Cartridge-DL-102_W0QQitemZ140348465840QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20ad6ba2b0#ht_1312wt_962
mcmprov OP
57 posts
 
Thank you for your responses. Does anyone know if the Denon DL102 would match well with a VPI JMW9 wand? The price seems right...
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I have used the Denon 103 and 110 in mine, haven't seen a 102 in the flesh but it shouldn't be too different you would think.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
I use that one

Good Sound, clever made, no hum, no overload and I would buy it again
br3098
969 posts
 
According to this web site, it appears that the DL 102 was not actually designed for playing mono records but was intended for mono playback of stereo LPs in radio stations and transcription studios.

Denon DL 102 Instruction Sheet

This would seem to make it less than ideal for the best fidelity when used for playback of mono LPs through a stereo system. As there is a single mono output, it will work best with a purely mono (single channel) system downstream. Also, if the 102 is like the 103 family it is not the best match for the JMW arm.

I would suggest that a dual mono cartridge would be a better choice. Personally I would recommend the Soundsmith SMMC-3 mono setup for medium compliance. But there are other manufacturers that offer similar carts.
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