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Calling Tony L and other DL 103 fans

Your right Tony, This cable was converted so I pointed blame too readily, I was actually thinking they might have manufactured the cable wrong at the Tonearm end (a sealed unit). It had not crossed my mind that Linn could let an arm out with crossed wires, and I did not know the plug was removeable. I will ake a look. Are the cables inside color coded, this will make it VERY easy if they are.

Before I do this though, I actually read your post as perhaps wires from arm to cartridge are wrong. I am pretty sure I have this right:

Top Left:White, Left Hot
Lower Left: Blue, Left Earth
Top Right: Red, Right Hot
Lower Right: Blue, Right Earth

all as you look at the front of the arm tube.

On the Denon 103:
R = Right Hot
Er = Right Earth
L = Left Hot
El = Left Earth

Adam
 
I have been following this thread with some interest as I have been getting ready to make the jump to moving coil for some time. Earlier in the year I was contemplating a Dynavector 170 but funds will not allow at present. All the other pieces were in place, spare boards for my 32.5, the determination to have a go at fitting a cartridge and fairly decent equipment, which should benefit from it.

Back in the spring I had replaced my old faithful Celef monitors which I have owned for 27 years with a pair of Harbeth super 7’s. It was not much later that I discovered Pink Fish Media. Because of Tony’s comments about the Harbeths, I felt he was probably looking for similar things from his system that I was. More recently the interest in the 103 on PFM had me intrigued at the prospect of a good MC cartridge for less than £100. This is almost pocket money compared to the Dynavector. My 103 arrived on Friday and I fitted it on Saturday.

So now the contact with the vinyl and the boxes at the end of the wires are the same as TL’s. The middle is slightly different, comprising Rega25/32.5/Hicap/250. And the results? My initial reaction was more clarity on the top end and less volume at the bottom. Not bad, not good, just different. Closer listening revealed less ‘noise’ than the Rega Super Elys I had just replaced and MUCH more top end detail but still less bottom end. However a few sides into this new Cartridge and the bottom is taking shape. I don’t think this is just the memory affect either because I have other sources for comparison.

So, was it worth it? I think so but it is early days. Because of Pink Fish Media, the cost has been minimal. £30-35 for the moving coil boards and £90 for the cartridge; a big thank you PFM for all the information. I suspect that this cartridge will take some time to bed in. Already I think I can see why few people return to MM cartridges once they have experienced the greater clarity that even a cheaper MC seems to offer.

As a footnote, I found an old Decca stereo check up record, which I had picked up sh years ago. This helped with the anti-skate setting on the tone arm and I was amazed at how sensitive a setting it is on the Rega arm, perhaps it is on all arms. A tiny movement of the anti-skate setting in either direction translates into a marked movement of the arm on the disc. Something to consider on any set up I suppose.

I will post again when this cartridge has some more miles on it.

Martin
 
Martin,

It's good to hear your cart is bedding in nicely. One interesting by product of mine is that I seem to be able to listen at lower levels with the same musical enjoyment. Can't quite get my head round this one, maybe the dynamics are just much faster (than the Ortofon MC250FL). Anyway, it's sounding wonderful - and no need to save up for months!

Cheers,

Nic.
 
Per

I used a 2mm spacer under the arm. It is a little high; I think 1.6mm would have been better but that is not a Rega option. I decided to go a bit higher at first and then I might experiment with a 1mm spacer at a later date. The wonderful thing about Rega is that their prices are so reasonable so experimentation is not a problem financially. My local Rega dealer charged £1.50 for the spacer.

I presume that you are thinking about your P9. The spacers are different and therefore slightly more expensive but I doubt if they will be outrageously expensive.

Let us know how you get on.

Martin
 
They are
The "one-piece" 1mm for P9 is around £35-40 !!!
Don't know about small spacers (3 needed)
Might look in a bauhaus" for those
when I have decided for a D103 or ?

best regards
Per
 
Per

Have you contacted Rega directly? I do not see why they should be that expensive. It might be worth a phone call or an email. The P9 is a prestige product for Rega and I understand that they offer very good support for P9 owners.

Best wishes
Martin
 
I bought a DL103 about a month ago and I am very pleased with it. It is a lot smoother than my MM, yet records I thought of as dull now sparkle. All instrument now have more weight.

I have just measured the distance from the record surface to the top of the cartridge body/underside of headshell. It is 14.5mm, at a load of 2.5g. The specified range is 2.2 to 2.8.
If you measure this distance on you current set up, this will give you an idea as to how far your arm needs to be raised or lowered.
I don’t think you need to position the arm as accurately as Martin is suggesting. If the tracking force were reduced so that cantilever deflection was one and a half thousandths of an inch less, this would be the same as dropping the arm by 0.4mm. I'm sure I hav records that differ in thickness more than 0.4mm.
If you can’t get it to work correctly you can always sell it. I saw on go for £70.00 on ebay.
 
I made what i thought was a neat little tool for initially setting the arm height/VTA on a record deck. It is just a set of excel spreadsheet cells, printed off onto fairly thick, glossy photo card. You need to make sure the lower edge is accuarately trimmed and square. I don't know whetehr my my method is correct , but i always get the VTA roughly in the ballpark, then i adjust the VTF and apply a little Bias, then go back and adjust the VTA more. I then piss about with the fine tuning for days , weeks or months afterwards, works for me everytime.

here's a piccy of sids VTA tool
 
Sid Is that blutac holding your motor in place.

It was very careless of you to lose the screws
Click to expand...

:)
Fatcat,
If you are referring to the large glob of blu-tac surrounding the Motor on the Systemdek iiX then it was put there by the previous owner. Apparently it was a tweek from way back when , to damp down motor vibrations. I just couldn't be bothered to remove it.
I really liked that deck. Blu-tac looks pretty ugly though.

getting back on the nominal thread course;

The postie delivered another couple of toys this morning. Nothing too exiting though.
I like accuracy. I always use a set of digital pocket scales to initially set up my cartridge VTF. Although the scales have a resolution of 0.01g that doesn't mean the at they are accurate. Not much doubt anymore for me. I bought a couple of 'M1' standard, calibration weights the other day. I went for a combined nominal mass of 2.500 g as this is the mid tolerance figure for my DL103.( Yet again i've posted a few little piccy's at the normal place Calibrated weights :rolleyes: ). The weights are certified and guaranteed to be within the band of 2.498 to 2.502 grams, good enough for moi.

A weird thing happened this morning, ( well not that weird really), I was playing with the new toys and decided to re-check my arms VTF. To my surprise i found that it had drifted a little from where i thought it would be and was at about 2.8 the upper limit for the Denon. i re-set it to exactly 2.5 grams nad have been having a little listen.
i'm not going to say that my jaw hit the floor, although i feel like saying it. Everything just snapped into place, probably one of the first times this has happened for me if i'm being honest. That shitty, filthy old UB40 LP that i used to demonstrate the wonders of vacuum cleaning records the other day, has been on almost non stop this morning. I also removed some double sided tape that i'd d stuck to the inner platter to retain the felt mat.maybe the hassle i had removing this gave the suspension a bit of a jiggle and kick up the butt, I feel my LP12 is well on song now though.

The Denon DL103 at exactly 2.5 grams is still getting my vote for the moment.

Hi Sid You have some cool toys there .

Mick
Click to expand...

Don't tell my wife, if only she knew what really lies within 'The Box' :D
 
Well I think the 103 can be considered ‘run in’ now. It now sounds much more detailed and balanced than the Rega Super Elys it replaced. At last it has developed a bottom end which seemed strangely lacking at first. I am surprised at how long this cartridge has taken to develop its full potential but it is worth the wait, it really is an extraordinary audio bargain. Unfortunately it has now wetted my appetite for its exotic derivatives. If a humble 103 is this good, how good would a 103R or a Pro be……
 
I was surprised at the sound of my shiny new DL 103 in that it made everything sound tonally the same, like the John Peel Show or Old Grey Whistle Test used to be on the radio & TV respectively. There was no sense of good, bad, lacklustre or toppy recordings. The cantilever was obviously VERY stiff and unyielding. Having lived with Linn cartridges for over 20 years that start off supple and get better over time, this was a bit of a shock. I wasn't sure I was going to like the utilitarian approach, musical though it was.

The pile of small change (my played album counter) on the shelf is increasing and sits at 33p as I write. The cartridge is sounding more fluid and has been from about 25p. Aqualung now sounds dull and flat, as it always did, and other albums sound good as they always did. Stylus up/down noise at record starts and ends doesn't have such a stiff thump to it; things are definately becoming looser.

I'm looking forward to the £1 mark. I'll then do some tweaking of VTF, backing it off a little if it sounds OK: 2.5g still seems a frightening amount resting on something the size and shape of an ice cream cone.

Mick

I forgot; the Denon test certificate shows an output of 390uV which is nearly three times that of the Klyde. The Kairn is at 25 and I can hear the music perfectly. :)
 
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