New toys...

[basite]

well, new toys indeed,
we went to town this afternoon and...
i'm just done mounting and finetuning my new cart, my very own Denon DL-103 (a special edition (like the grado black that becomes a green when it meets higher standards) according to the dealer)

with that i also bought myself the pro-ject phonobox II, which is smaller than i thought it was, but it does it job great i must say.

and I LOVE it, records sound alive now, compared to the OM-5E, i only played a few records, but really, this thing rocks!!!

my god, Long live vinyl indeed...

mounting the cart had his troubles i must say, (this is not a problem when you have long screws) but the screws to lock the cart were too short, and after a long search in my closet i happened to find a technics headshell and cart with longer screws, so this fixed my problem.
this cart is just married to my turntable already!

pics will be added soon, the photocamera's batteries are recharging...


Greetings,
Bert.

[jrhymeammo]

Awesome. Hope you got everything aligned such as VTA, Anti-Skate, and VTF. Now, turn your computer off and enjoy your music.

Congrats,

JRA

[royphil345]

WOW... I should have bought stock in Denon...LOL

Congrats Bert!!! Enjoy!!! I still can't imagine anything sounding better for the money.

I can't wait for JRA to get home and tell us how that 301 II sounds. I blame him for buying the DL-110 and starting this Audio Review Denon craze. Glad he did. My ears are grateful!!!

Size doesn't seem to mean much as far as phono stages go... My Rotel is much larger and sells for more than my new NAD PP-2. After much switching back and fourth between the two, the little NAD definitely sounds better to me.

A power supply upgrade made an audible improvement with the NAD. A power supply with a higher mA rating or a switching (regulated) power supply may help keep the voltage more stable under load and might be an upgrade to think about someday. Lots of used wall warts on eBay cheap. allelectronics.com has a nice selection of switching power supplies. Parts Express also...

[basite]

yeah, everything is aligned, i'm still using monster cable for the moment
but it's ok for now, gotta get myself some better cables once.

power supply won't be the upgrade i think,
i think that when i upgrade my phono pre, it will be a complete new one, like a clearaudio or so, or a better pro-ject... (tube box )

anyways, thanks for all the info about carts and other things about tt's, i learned alot (and i still am)
and thanks JRA for starting the "AR Denon craze", you sure did good with it...


Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[basite]

here are the pictures, as promised...

the current setup




the beautiful playing and mighty looking denon DL-103




a pic of the tiny, but big sounding Phono Box II




and these are the carts that i used before: a national panasonic 270c-II and an ortofon OM-5E



sorry for the 'slightly' oversized pictures...

Greetings,
Bert.

[JohnMichael]

The Denon has to be a great match for that tonearm. Loved seeing the Donna Summer album. It brought back memories from my disco days in the mid 70's. So many nights in a disco I am surprised I have my hearing. What?

[Florian]

The Denon has to be a great match for that tonearm. Loved seeing the Donna Summer album. It brought back memories from my disco days in the mid 70's. So many nights in a disco I am surprised I have my hearing. What?

And i thought the 70's are the reason why you see the life in such a colorfull way ;-)

Cheers buddy

[jrhymeammo]

I think you made a great decision to change your cart, instead of rewiring your deck. I installed my 301 II and sounds great, but too early to comment(needs at least 10-20 hours IMO). I picked up the ZeroDust and it works great (Thanx Mr. Peabody). I dont know whota hell the importer is for this product, but MSRP of $70 is insane. Retail price in Japan is $16.67 at 120 per $. I thought about buying about 30 to make a $1000, but someone on Agon already sells it for $40. Anyways,

Happy New Year!!

JRA

[basite]

The Denon has to be a great match for that tonearm. Loved seeing the Donna Summer album. It brought back memories from my disco days in the mid 70's. So many nights in a disco I am surprised I have my hearing. What?

it is a great match, the tonearm and the cart couldn't be happier,
the donna summer album is borrowed, i have to record it on cd for one of my dad's friends, maybe i can keep it afterwards...
if not, i still have 3 donna summer albums so, this one is live though.

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[jt1stcav]

Great rig!

I'm curious...isn't the Denon a low-output MC? Don't you need a step-up transformer with your Pro-Ject phono pre, or is such circuitry built-in that all you need is the Phono Box II to boost the Denon's signal?

[jrhymeammo]

The Pro-Ject PhonoBox mk2 has both MM and MC output. It's quite good for under $120. I think the S/N ratio is alot better than my phono pre. I think I need a new one....damn it!! I swear everytime I upgrade something, I always need to make adjustments with different stuff. But it's definetly worth it.

J-Murda

[jt1stcav]

Duh...I should've known. Thanks for the reply.

[basite]

Great rig!

I'm curious...isn't the Denon a low-output MC? Don't you need a step-up transformer with your Pro-Ject phono pre, or is such circuitry built-in that all you need is the Phono Box II to boost the Denon's signal?

thanks,
i love my rig...


...this does not mean that I won't upgrade...

the advents could use a more powerful amp so that will be my next investement, maybe together with a cd player, depending on how much money i earn this summer (vacation job)