Summary: Very happy with this replacement for my venerable DL-303. Used in Technics 1200 TT with great success (12Gm effective mass arm). Sharply etched dynamics and detail, but never strident. Excellent stable stereo image with impressive 3D depth on many recording- voices step into the room with you. Bliss with AKG 701 headphones given new discoveries with every favourite LP. Minor issue with surface noise occasionally, but easy to overlook given virtues (many of my LP's are 40+ years old). Low voltage output may be a bother, but no issue with Denon AU310 transformer and valve RIAA amplifier (5mV input).
Directly compared with Ortofon HM30 (close competitor, but Denon has just a little more detail) and some classic MM cartridges (AKG PS8, ADC XLM, and Grace F8C). I keep settling on the DL-304 as my preferred cartridge. Hunt around for best price and take advantage of exchange rate movements for a real bargain. Highly recommended.
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Rating Reviewed by: Jan Lindström(Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date October 19, 2007
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review 4.92 of 5,
12.00 votes
Review 2 of 3
Price Paid:
$0.00
from Ebay
Summary: Mounted on a Linn LP12/Ittok/Lingo. Signal fed through a Denon 301 LC step-up transformer, Ming Da 767 RD RIAA-tube pre-amp/Krell KAV 250P/A and Monitor Audio speakers. For comparison: a Jungson SACD tube player and Marantz/DAC-inthebox2 CD player.
Rock steady imaging. Voices sound fantastic. Extreme micro-detail level in music. No problem with surface noise in my set-up. On the contrary a very quiet, "dark" back-ground. The Linn and the Denon seems to love each other. No Linn cartridge comes near in ANY area regardless of price, to the Denon 304. Also, the Denon seems to be very neutral. No particular colouring or emphasis on parts of the spectrum. The bass could sound a bit low at times but perhaps the sheer clarity of the sound made it sound a bit more slim than usual. The Denon (together with the Linn) beats the Marantz in all "HiFi"-areas and is slightly better than the Jungson on 3-D imaging. When it comes to sheer musical involvement, I have heared nothing quite like it, regardless of price. Beware of the low output though = 0.18 mV. Most so called MC-inputs can´t handle it. You need a transformer or a good head-amp. The Denon 301 adds very little character of its own and works fine in my set-up. It is still really the cartridge you are listening to.
Strengths: Voices, micro-details, extreme dynamics, still very neutral, comparably low price. We are probably talking 10 x its price to really have any substantial achievements.
The Denon DLS1 could be an alternative but I have not ha a chance to listen to it.
Weaknesses: Very low output construction. Likes middle-mass arms and upwards. The Ittok seems to love it. Can be hard to get. Price vary a lot.
Similar Products Used: Various Shure cartridges, Nagaoka, Ortofon, Supex. Linn K18II etc.
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Summary: I love this cartridge. The strongest suit is its fabulous midband. It almost seems to spotlight vocals. Filigree detailing is superb and if you was more of those moments when you just look up at your stereo and go F*%K that sounds brilliant, buy one of these.
Strengths: Midband, filigree detailing, 3D soundstaging
Weaknesses: Occasionally too much surface noise
Similar Products Used: Cartridge Man Musicmaker Mk III cartridge ($1000), Sumiko Blue point special
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5 of 5
