Customer Reviews

Denon DL160 High Output Moving Coil Cartridge

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Diehard audiophiles will tell you that nothing beats the sound of analog music, played from vinyl LP's. I tend to agree. The warmth of that analog sound comes through loud and clear with this miraculous cartridge. You could spend more, but there's just no point when you can get sound this good from a cartridge selling for under $200. This Denon cartridge is a high output moving coil design. Moving coils are known for a more detailed sound than the average moving magnet. There's more clarity and sheen to the music, and all the subtleties come through cleanly as well. Obviously, the better the record, the better the sound. But this cartridge is more forgiving than most. Surface noise is, when the cartridge is properly installed on a quality tonearm, less of a problem. The set-up of this cartridge is pretty straight-forward, but you have to take your time to do it right. I have mine installed in a Technics SL-1200mk2turntable, tracking at 1.75 grams. Anti-skate should be properly set, as well. The nice thing about the arm I have this cartridge mounted in is the VTA (vertical tracking angle) adjustment. This is often not provided for in many tonearms. It is, nonetheless, a very important parameter to get the best from any cartridge. It allows for proper angle of the stylus in the groove. Set incorrectly, it can make records sound harsh or dull. You'll just know when it's properly set. The sound of this cartridge is clean, detailed, and as right as rain. Channel separation is excellent. The cartridge tracks the Shure V15 type 5 test record flawlessly, with no distortion on even the most heavily modulated passages. There was no audible mistracking whatsoever. How many cartridges can claim that? One word of warning... as with most moving coil cartridges, the stylus is not user-replacable. When installing it in your headshell, use extreme care and the flip-down stylus guard. It could keep you from making an expensive mistake. Five stars are not enough to extoll the virtues of the DL-160. If you have a passion for vinyl as I do, you need this cartridge to really hear what's on your records.

Give the DL-160 four and a half stars. But, for the money, it truly is one of if not the best cartridges you can buy and worthy of five stars. There are cartridges that are better of course (like the Denon DL-103R) but you are going to pay far more for less gain as you go up that ladder. This cartridge is very similar to its little brother the DL-110, which I also own. What the 110 does well, detail and soundstage, the 160 does slightly better. It extracts more inner detail (less congestion), better 3-D imaging, and tighter bass. Some users report less noise over the 110 when using less than pristine records but I have not noticed a difference although both cartridges perform very well with the well used stuff.

If you are currently using a Moving Magnet cartridge, have a decent enough system that is revealing and able to reproduce a stereo image, the High Output Moving Coil 110 and 160 are a step up from many MM cartridges that can be laid back, neutral, muddied, and monophonic sounding in comparison. The nice thing about the HOMC cartridges is that you can use them with a MM phonostage on the preamp. No need for a MC phonostage, step up transformer, or separate phono preamp. Although, I have used the 160 with a MC phonostage with decent results but it will overload at higher levels.

The 110 and 160 are both excellent cartridges. The 160 is worth the extra $40 if you are seeking everything vinyl records are capable of reproducing and have the rest of the components to go along with it. You won't be disappointed and if you've been using MM cartridges for years will immediately hear the difference.

Nothing even comes close to this cartridge at this price point. It can compete with other carts costing hundreds more. Moving Coil, High Output design makes it perfect to be used in Moving Magnetic Phono Stages also. The tiny stylus digs deep into the record groove to bring out even the slightest nuances of your vinyl. Produces a warm, well balanced sonic characteristic. Deep bass and sparkling highs. Well done Denon.

I use the DL 160 alternatively with AT 440ML. Both are excellent, though differ in sound reproduction. Denon excels in sonical detail, low background noise, but the music sounds a bit dry. Audio Technica on the other hand gives the vinyl more warmth but has a smaller sound stage, less defined detail and higher background noise.
The choice between these two cartridges depends on personal preferences and the kind of music one listens to. Having very eclectic taste myself, switching between both is a real blessing.
Based on Technics 1200MKII turntable and Cambridge 640P phono stage here are my recommendations for each cartridge.
Denon's best for: rock music (Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones); older albums (those 50's and 60's pressing of Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra); anything with scratches and surface noise.
AT excels with vocal music (Johnny Mathis, Simon and Garfunkel), pop (Abba, Supertramp), classical (Pavarotti, Bernstein) and of course The Beatles.
LONG LIVE VINYL!!!

I'm not a vinyl nut or expert. In fact, I'm just sort of re-discovering LP's again and I was a little skeptical about the amount of money and time people spend on analog recordings and maximizing their sound quality with this medium.

However, I can definitely vouch that this cartridge made an obvious improvement in the sound coming off of all my old records when compared to a basic $50 Stanton cartridge that it replaced.

The surface "scratchy" noise was nearly non-existant with this cartridge and the bass and imaging was improved. The sound was richer and more full.

Now, don't go thinking that this improvement will be some kind of transcendent moment you in life. Because in order for me to really tell the difference, I had to sit quietly in front of my stereo, without distractions, and really concentrate on the music to notice the difference. The kind of thing that real audiophiles apparently have time to do frequently.

Bottom line, an excellent cartridge, a definite improvement over lesser/cheaper units and yes, allows the sound from your turnatble to often sound better than CD.

I bought this to replace another DL-160 that I bought sometime in the 1990s. If you have vinyl and a turntable, you won't go wrong with this cartridge.

I bought my new Technics SL1200mkII turntable only a couple months ago along with a sub-$100 Audio Technica AT120E cartridge to rediscover the 150 or so LP's that I had in storage from my younger years, mostly records from the 1970's and 1980's.

As much as I loved the Audio Technica AT120E cartridge on the Technics SL1200mkII, I was anxious to hear something else "just for grins" without breaking the bank. The Denon DL-160 came highly recommended from some experienced vinyl guys that frequent an online audio forum that I hang out on so I figured I would give it a try.

The DL-160 seems to retrieve more detail vs what I wasn't hearing from the Audio Technica AT120E cartridge and it has better defined bass and seems more "alive" or dynamic. The Denon cartridge is also smooth and perhaps a little quieter than my Audio Technica.

I had some initial hesitation with the Denon cartridge as the high-output moving coil (MC) design puts out about 1/2 the voltage as my Audio Technica AT120E moving magnet (MM) unit. I was concerned that this might not be adequate for my phono preamp MM input or too much on the MC setting. It worked out fine and just turn the volume up a little more on my linestage.

I'm working my way through my old albums and couldn't be happier! The Denon DL-160 puts a big non-stop grin on my face whenever I'm spinning the old vinyl.... and some new records that I have recently purchased. The fun is back!

- - - - - November 17, 2009 - Additional Comments Added Below - - - - -

As much as I love the DL-160, and I still give it 5 stars for bang for the buck fun factor, I have discovered the Denon DL-103R low output moving coil cartridge. Unless your phono stage can accommodate MC cartridges, the DL-103R will need a step-up-transformer or headamp to drive a MM-only phono stage.

The DL-103R is noticeably more refined sounding overall retrieving more detail and producing more top end treble extension w/o being bright. The DL-160 seems a bit "warmer" sounding but this may be due to less treble extension vs the DL-103R. The DL-103R also creates a more 3 dimensional soundstage. It also seems to pick up a few more pops and clicks vs the DL-160 which can be a drawback if your records aren't clean or in good condition. The DL-160 appears to be more forgiving in this regard.

The DL-103R is yet another outstanding high value cartridge from Denon! I prefer it over the DL-160 but it costs about twice as much and requires a phono stage capable of dealing with the very low output signal from this MC cartridge.

My 2-Channel Audio System:
Technics SL1200mkII direct drive turntable. Unmodified completely stock
Denon DL-160, Denon DL-103R, and Audio Technica AT120E cartridges
Graham Slee Era Gold MM-Only phono stage & Graham Slee Elevator EXP headamp
Audio Research LS25mkII vacuum tube linestage
Manley Neo-Classic 250 vacuum tube monoblock amplifiers (one left, one right)
Thiel CS2.4 Speakers
And Mac Mini music server with Apogee Mini DAC via Firewire using Apple Lossless compression when I'm feeling too lazy to deal with the turntable.

This Denon is better sounding than the much more expensive Shure V15 MrX 5 or whatever the last model was when they discontinued it. This is less edgey than a Sumiko HO MC. Sounds great, gotta do a side by side to my Stanton CS 100 which is superb in mortally priced cartridges. The Shure is lifeless, Sumiko Blue Point Special is a bit bright. One thing I see is this cartridge is much lighter than any of em, so on my JMW 10 VPI arm it needed extra weight on it so I could get teh 1.7gram tracking weight. With the counterweight all the way up it still was too light, they certainly did lighten it up. And to get teh exact overhang adj like all teh others did on teh VPI adj jib for overhang, since the cartridge is a bit smaller in length too, it couldn't quite get to teh exact spot on teh jig for exact overhang distance, like all teh other 3 could do with no problem. It's about 1.5 MM short of hitting the exact spot on teh JMW 10 arms. Sounds great

I've used DL-160 cartridges with my Denon DP-59L turntable for 20+ years and it is highly recommended. Don't have experience using it on other turntables, but I expect that it'll work just as well.