Denon DL 110 is it being discontinued

[gregory lynch]

A couple of vendors saying no longer stocked, I've just ordered one from AV Online for £179, they say awaiting stock.
Another saying £175 but doesn't mention stock levels, thoughts.

 

[gavreid]

There's a premium anniversay 110 just launching, the DL-A110 (but the pictures are of a 103 so I'm confused - the 110 refers to years). I don't know anything about the standard being discontinued, that would be terrible news. No stock of 110s at HiFix either web site says temporarily out of stock. Covid issues maybe?

https://www.hifix.co.uk/denon-dl-a110-anniversary-edition-moving-coil-cartridge

https://www.denon.com/en-gb/shop/avreceiver/dla110

 

[Amber Audio]

The DLA110 is based on the 103. The 110 = 110 year anniversary.

 

[Martyn Miles]

As long as they keep making the 103...

I sent a broken one to the Expert Stylus Company.
It required a new cantilever.

Expert fitted a new one, plus a ‘Paratrace’ stylus for something over £200.
It’s the best cartridge I have ever owned.

I have a 110 on an AR XA turntable and it works extremely well.
No doubt it will eventually go to Expert for checking on any stylus wear.

 

[krenzler]

DL-A110 is based on the DL-103R to be specific.

 

[krenzler]

Not too many years ago the Denon line-up was:

DL-110
DL-160
DL-103
DL-103R
DL-301 MkII
DL-304
DL-S1

Now it's just the 2 103 variants remaining.

 

[krenzler]

OK DL-301/II still officially available in the US and Japan but not (officially) in Europe.

Also forgot about the DL-102 mono HO-MC.

 

[Amber Audio]

DL-A110 is based on the DL-103R to be specific.

Hope so the pics on their website looked like a 103 to me and the text says 103 not 103r

 

[gavreid]

They have a handful of 110s on Amazon at RRP - I just bought of them one Perfect in an r200 imo.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000Q33ONG/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

 

[krenzler]

Specs say it's the R variant. The standard 103 is 0.3mV output and 40 ohms internally.

 

[krenzler]

Unless Denon can't make their minds up about it.

 

[Amber Audio]

Dunno the 103r has a gold line not white at the front - I'd be happier buying one if it's the R, I was going off pic and this text

Longest Still In-Production Denon Product
The DL-A110 features the legendary DL-103 phono cartridge that has been in constant production since 1964, using copper wire that is hand-spun in the Denon Audio Works Factory in Shirakawa, Japan.
The DL-103 was originally developed following the high standard of Japan's national broadcasting studios’ specifications for vinyl record playback for wide band FM stereo broadcasting and became the official standard cartridge used in those studios. It was widely adopted by almost all professional broadcasting studios in Japan thereafter.​

 

[Seanm]

Why don’t they stick a decent stylus on it?

 

[Robert]

Bad news if true. The 110 has a been a go-to for anyone wanting a quality cart with balanced performance in all areas and no real weaknesses at <£500.

Its been around forever, in fact if it goes I think we need to hold a pfm wake.

 

[krenzler]

Could be they got the specs wrong. It does look like the standard 103.

 

[Martyn Miles]

Why don’t they stick a decent stylus on it?

Because it was designed to do the job it does very well.

 

[wd40addict]

I get the impression Denon's new owners aren't interested in cartridges!

 

[Arkless Electronics]

I wouldn't buy a cart with a spherical stylus personally.

 

[stevec67]

I wouldn't buy a cart with a spherical stylus personally.

I think that like a lot of things it depends on implementation. I have a goldring 1042, fancy stylus profile, etc. Sounds great. So does the denon 110. Is either better? Not significantly. I can't really tell which one I'm using.

 

[Tony L]

The DL-110 (the transparent red high-output one) has an elliptical tip. Nothing to do with the 103 at all. It is quite high compliance for a MC too and IIRC came out in the mid-70s, so you’d even see them in SME Series III, Hadcock etc arms. As Rob says it is a great cart, I had one for a while, but it has gone up in price (doubled) in the past decade or so. It used ti be available for £90 or so, and was a real bargain at that, i.e. quite a bit cheaper than a Goldring 1042 etc. The last 103 I bought was only about £110, so that’s gone up pretty sharpish of late too! It wasn’t long ago either, certainly since I swapped the Garrard out for the 124.