# Denon DP-300F Turntable



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I have been considering busting out our vinyl collection after going through our CD collection and adding them to our music server. It got me thinking about all of the vinyl we have... quite the collection, being that I was a deejay back in the day. Surely it would be sweet to listen to some of those albums on our MartinLogan Prodigy's. :bigsmile:

Anyway... I snagged a new Denon DP-300F for $225 and figured I would give it a spin. Reading up on this unit, it seems most people swap out the cartridge to something a little better. This is not something I am accustomed to doing. Back when we had a turntable, a Thorens Jubilee, the place I purchased it from already had a cartridge installed and setup, so I never had to fool with it. So I am curious if I really need to worry about replacing the cartridge. 

I am also assuming I will be fine using the phono inputs on my Denon 4311 receiver and not have to worry about a preamp.

Now I wonder if the LAST that I applied years ago on all of these albums did any good. :sarcastic:


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## jackfish (Dec 27, 2006)

The Denon DP-300F has a built in phono preamp, which may or not be better than the Denon 4311 onboard unit. Make sure it is switched off if you use the phono input of the receiver.

If you replace the cartridge you might want to check in at the Vinyl Engine forum to make sure you get one that matches the arm of that table.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Thanks Jay... I appreciate that information.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Prodigies and Vinyl. Now that is a wonderful combination. Congrats on the new TT.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Cartridges are just like microphones and speakers. They will differ greatly from each other. I am partial to Shure, Audio Technica and Grado. They offer the best bang for the buck without getting into insane prices.

I would try the Denon TT's built in phono pre and then the AVR's pre to listen for differences and see which one I liked best. They may both be exactly the same.


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## Jeff Aguilar (Apr 11, 2006)

I'm curious if you got it up and running yet to check out the differences between your vinyl and cd and/or ripped music.

I have been working on a dedicated 2 channel system and the difference between vinyl and other sources is quite significant. I am enjoying spinning records! I did a comparison for a friend last week between my iphone (probably the worst quality you can get) to the record and he really could tell a difference.

I'm actually doing some tube rolling in my amp today. Lot's of fun and this hobby never stops!

Jeff


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Hey Jeff... 

Haven't gotten it in hand yet. It is coming straight from Denon (well, from them to my distributor and then to me) and with the holidays, it may be first of the year before I see it.

I will definitely give an update. I have several CD recordings with their vinyl counterparts on hand... provided the vinyl has held up.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Welp... got it up and going now for a week or so. I have listened to several albums and it definitely brings back some memories of when we use to listen to records back in the day.

I am having a buzzing issue though, which I can only distinguish at lower volumes... definitely irritating. I do not see a place on the Denon 300F to ground it to the receiver, although the receiver has a grounding terminal specifically for turntables.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

You can create your own ground point. Try running a drain wire from a screw in the turntable's chassis to the receiver's ground.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

That is pretty much what I had decided to try.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Sonnie - which phono pre amp did you decide to use, the one built into the TT, or the receiver?


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I am using the one in the receiver for now.


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