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Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Searchenabler - you almost have me ready to order the DL-110! I'm a fan of the DL-103, but have had a difficult time convincing myself to drop lots of money on a wear item.
To the OP, I've found the Grado Gold just around the $100 mark. It's a great value for the price and I really enjoyed it. You might also like the Shure MX97E. Good value for a nice cartridge - I keep one handy as an emergency backup.
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Uncle Erik: I will spend any amount I have to in order to get a cartridge with properties that are extremely close to neutral and with inaudible distortion and superb tracking. My former cart was a near $1k Clearaudio Virtuosso Wood. I have chosen the DL-110 as my preferred cart because of it's combination of superb tracking, flat FR and very low distortion(which I have measured/analyzed). The DL-110 seems to be substantially beyond any similarly priced cartridges by a huge margin, and comparable to very expensive cartridges. I expect that by $500 dollars and higher mark, it's easier to find cartridges that are comparable to the DL-110 in quality/sound/accuracy. But I doubt you will find anything that is
significantly better. I am not going to pay 7x it's price for a tiny improvement that is barely audible.
Let me put it this way: I would have no problem dropping a grand on a cartridge if it could be proven objectively to be
substantially superior to the DL-110. So far, it seems to me the only thing you get for more money is (1) a different, and likely less accurate response [and] (2) psychological perception of 'better' because of price tag, cosmetic appearance and/or reputation of item. Psychological influence is incredibly strong - never underestimate it's magnitude of effect!
If I want a frequency response alteration, I'll use an EQ.
Actually, I do, for corrections of room, driver resonance notches, etc., as my speaker system is a full active 3 way with DSP crossovers.
Anecdotal evidence also suggest that the DL-110 is substantially better than anything around it's price. Virtually every user that has changed to it from products around the same price reports DRASTIC improvements in sound quality, especially in regards to high frequency detail(not more treble or brighter - but more information retrieval).
The DL-103 you mentioned used an archaic conical shape(
referred to as spherical stylus) diamond. A design certainly not suited to accurate data retrieval! This appears to be a cartridge intended for coloration, not accuracy.
-Chris