Replacing a Denon 103. Suggestions on a tight budget?

[daviethek]

there are a bunch of carts around that fit into your 200.00 range but few are better than the 103. Your indifference to it is normal. The problem is, you are accustomed to its very good attributes, which you will miss greatly if you go too cheap on a replacement. I recommend the Denon 110. its about 139.000 and available. Its a damn good cart for the money. Quite different from the 103 in that it has a forward presentation. With the 110 you will get slam and detail,

Another weird choice is Nakaogka. I tried one of their P mount OEM carts and it was shockingly good, makes me wonder about the rest of their carts.

[Enochrome]

there are a bunch of carts around that fit into your 200.00 range but few are better than the 103. Your indifference to it is normal. The problem is, you are accustomed to its very good attributes, which you will miss greatly if you go too cheap on a replacement. I recommend the Denon 110. its about 139.000 and available. Its a damn good cart for the money. Quite different from the 103 in that it has a forward presentation. With the 110 you will get slam and detail,

Another weird choice is Nakaogka. I tried one of their P mount OEM carts and it was shockingly good, makes me wonder about the rest of their carts.

Nobody,

I have had all the carts mentioned except for the Shure. I really like the DL-110 it can play hot but can be tamed. It has crazy detail, more dynamics than the 103, and has lots of extension. What it lacks that the 103 has is instrumental timber and cohesiveness. Ironically my 103 tracked better than the 110 (it passed the Shure test record on both sides).

You cannot go wrong with either, you are in good hands.

In regards to mismatch with compliance, the 110 is actually more like 15 dynamic compliance. With a 15 compliance and a if you want to add a 3 gram weight you will be in the safety zone.

I had a Nagaoka mp-30 and sold it cause I liked the 110 better. I still want to own a Nagaoka again, but since you own a 103 you won't be missing much, because the Nagaoka has the same characteristics as the 103, except the 103 has more air.