My Dinner with Denon: Why the DL-A110 Made Me Dump My Overpriced Cartridges and Embrace Japanese Restraint

During the chaos of my recent move down to Florida—a migration that now splits my time between the Sunshine State, New Jersey, and a new cabin that smells like Rooibos tea and regret—I was forced to reckon with almost 28 years’ worth of accumulated Hi-Fi and home theater gear.

Buried somewhere between the seven pairs of unused speaker stands and a broken SACD player I swore I’d fix in 2011 was a brutal truth: I had no idea how much gear I actually owned, let alone needed.

Some of it should’ve been sold years ago. Some of it should be gifted to my kids, who’ve recently hit that rite of passage where music has evolved from “earbuds and Spotify” to “I want a real stereo because Daddy threatened to ground me if I touch his.”

Learning how to live with less might sound absurd coming from someone now juggling life between three homes—but let’s get something straight: I’m not a hoarder. Just ask my family, who’ve seen me hurl perfectly functional gear, dishware, and furniture into the donation pile with the cold precision of a Bond villain pressing the ejector seat button.

This isn’t about creating more space for my stuff—if anything, it’s the opposite. Having three places to live now doesn’t mean I have more room; in fact, I’m working with almost 1,000 fewer square feet than my previous home. What it does mean is that it’s finally time to think seriously about what I actually need to hang onto for the next 50 years. Not in some sentimental, freeze-it-in-amber kind of way, but in a real, practical sense. I’ve been collecting books, movies, music (in just about every format known to man), vintage film posters, and pop culture ephemera since I was a kid.

And while I’m not looking to erase any of that, I am trying to get honest about what I can live without—and what I still feel connected to. It’s not about downsizing for the sake of it. It’s about curating a life that reflects what matters now, not what used to.

George Carlin wasn’t wrong when he called our homes nothing more than a place for our stuff—just four walls and a roof so your junk doesn’t get rained on while you pretend it all means something.

Denon DL-A110: A $599 Cartridge That Makes Your $2,000 MC Look Like a Mid-Fi Midlife Crisis

Amid the sorting, boxing, swearing, and inventorying, one item stood out like a katana in a pile of chopsticks—the Denon DL-A110. Released to celebrate both Denon’s 110th anniversary in 2011 and the iconic DL-103 moving coil cartridge, the $599 DL-A110 is a special edition that pays homage to Japan’s finest engineering restraint.

And while some audiophiles cling to their $2,000 cartridges like they’re sacred relics, the DL-A110 slices through that high-end pretension like Toshiro Mifune cutting down a pack of bandits—quietly, efficiently, and with zero patience for nonsense.

Denon introduced the DL-103 back in 1962 for professional broadcast use, and over 60 years later, it’s still one of the most beloved and bulletproof moving coil cartridges around. It’s low output—0.3mV—so it’s not for the faint of phono stage. You’ll need something with at least 60dB of gain, and a higher mass tonearm to get the most out of it. That opens the door to vintage classics like Fidelity Research, SME, or EMT arms—or pricier modern options from Kuzma or Jelco (RIP).

Jazz heads have sworn by the DL-103 for decades, and with good reason. Its tonal balance is right in the pocket, with a wide-open presentation that makes horns and vocals jump out of the grooves like they’ve been mainlining Blue Note.

And while third-party tweakers have spent years offering modded DL-103s that promise sonic nirvana (for a price that starts to feel like a con), the truth is simple: stick with the stock Denon. It works. It always has.

So what’s the deal with the DL-A110? Think of it as the DL-103 with a tuxedo and a clean shave. Same legendary cartridge, but packed in a slick anniversary shell with a new headshell, commemorative engraving, and just enough polish to justify the $599 price tag. And frankly, after spending time with it, I’m starting to think dropping two grand on a cartridge might not just be overkill—it might be flat-out stupid.

The cartridge itself? It’s essentially a stock DL-103, using copper wire hand-spun at the Denon Audio Works Factory in Shirakawa, Japan—which sounds artisanal and noble until you realize it also comes with the same old quirks. The headshell pins still don’t have proper markings, and mounting it is just as much of a pain as ever thanks to the slotted sides and those fiddly screws. But hey, at least Denon’s being consistent—like a classic car with no cup holders, you admire it anyway.

What actually is unique—and a proper nod to the cartridge’s heritage—is the new Anniversary Edition silver-graphite headshell. If you’ve got a vintage Thorens, Yamaha (raises hand), or anything with a standard bayonet-mount tonearm (the same design Ortofon introduced with the SPU back in 1958), this might feel like the cartridge your tonearm has been waiting for its whole life.

Just keep in mind, that warm fuzzy feeling only applies if your arm has medium-to-high mass. The headshell won’t magically fix the usual DL-103 setup challenges, either. You’ll still need 2.5g of tracking force and to dial in the VTA the old-fashioned way—by making sure the top of the cartridge is actually parallel to the record. Nostalgia’s cute, but physics still wins.

DL-A110: Old-School Broadcast DNA in a Tuxedo—and Just Enough Swagger to Shame Pricier MCs

The DL-A110 arrives in a fancy velvet-lined box complete with a stylus cleaning brush—because nothing says “anniversary edition” like packaging that makes you feel like you just adopted a Fabergé egg.

Is that worth an extra $300 over the standard DL-103? Maybe—maybe—if you’ve got a Yamaha YP-701 or a Thorens TD-160 Super or TD-125 from Vinyl Nirvana with a Sorane tonearm (raises hand again). In that context, the silver-graphite headshell might actually make a bit of sonic and aesthetic sense.

But if you’re running a tonearm with a fixed headshell, don’t bother. Save your money and stick with the vanilla DL-103. You’ll get the same cartridge minus the glam and grief.

I’m about 6 weeks in with the DL-A110, and so far, I’m hearing two real differences over the stock version: a noticeable uptick in detail—horns, in particular, sound like they’ve been pulled straight from a smoky late-night session—and a better sense of pace that gives everything a little more drive.

Some of my recent spins from Craft Recordings—including Helen Humes, Buddy Guy, Scrapper Blackwell, Art Pepper, Miles Davis, and Mississippi John Hurt—have taken on a new level of clarity, bite, and tonal heaven with the DL-A110 in play. There’s a rawness and immediacy now that wasn’t as pronounced with the standard DL-103. Humes’ vocals cut through with more nuance, Art Pepper’s alto has extra bite, and Mississippi John Hurt’s fingerpicking suddenly feels like it’s happening in the same room—dust and all.

It’s not night-and-day transformation territory, but it’s enough to remind you that the right headshell, on the right tonearm, with the right cartridge… can unlock more from those grooves than you’d expect from something that doesn’t cost as much as a used Honda.

It’s still the same DL-103 under the hood, but that graphite headshell might be doing more than just looking pretty.

Right now, I’m also testing a phono preamp from overseas—specifically from the land where Pro-Ject cranks out over 100,000 turntables a year. This particular model has been on the market for close to two years, but it’s already proving to be better than I’ll probably ever need.

It’s priced well below comparable units with built-in SUTs, delivers more gain than most people know what to do with, and honestly—looks kinda fancy. The locals have definitely taken notice—and I’m not talking about the gators lurking in the lake next door–so we’ll see if this thing continues to surprise or just settles into “really good for the money.” Either way, it’s making a solid case for not spending more money on a cartridge.

Where to buy:

Related Reading:

• Best Audiophile Turntables Under $3,500: Editors’ Choice
• Helen Humes Songs I Like To Sing! Vinyl Reissue Review
• Mississippi John Hurt Today! Vinyl Reissue Review
• Thorens Unleashes TD 124 DD Exclusive, TD 404 DD & MC 1600 At High End Munich 2025 — Precision German Audio With A Side Of Sauerkraut
• Sumiko Wellfleet And Amethyst Phono Cartridge Reviews: Great Performance You Can Afford