An overwhelming majority of audiophiles will emphatically tell you this combination will not work. They will spew on and on about how the low 7.5 effective mass of the TP16 MKIII tonearm is not compliant with the low compliant Denon cartridge and send you to Vinyl Engine for a resonance calculator. They will tell you that only a high mass tonearm can make the Denons "Sing". Well, I beg to differ. In my opinion, for my system to sound this incredible with this combo, set-up and system synergy must play a much greater role in the overall scheme of things then most realize.The TP16 MKIII tonearm's effective mass rating is 7.5g. Since the DL 103-R weighs 8.5 grams and its "static" compliance is 10, then the arm/cart resonant frequency works out to: 12.5 hz. A bit on the high side of things. However, I used a "static" compliance of 11 and the arm/cart resonant frequency works out to: 11.8 hz. Most people want to keep the number between 8 and 12 hz. I love the Denon 103 and 103r MC cartridges and recognize that these are the best "Bargains In Audio" at $249 and $379 respectively. A Shelter 501 II will cost you almost $1300 and this is where the Audio Pundits will tell you have to go to best the Denons. As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on this.
Everything that I'm referencing in this Blog has been to a certain degree, denigrated. The Thorens 126 MKIII got a lower rating when it was compared to the earlier TD 125's, the simpler TD 160, the TD 126 MkI, MkII ,MKIV because of the use of a DC Motor with a 72 pole tacho-generator motor drive (like in the TD 105 and TD 110). The DC Motor is the very reason I chose the 126 MKIII. IME, a great DC motor provides blacker backgrounds which yields greater low-level detail which gives the musical presentation more realism. My Thorens 126 MKIII has the RCA outputs on the back side and I am using Soundstring Platinum GEN II interconnects that go into my Allnic AUT 2000 Step-Up-Transformer (in my opinion, one of the best) with Audience Au24e cables coming out of the Allnic SUT and into my Citation I preamp's phono input that uses 4 NOS 12AX7 ribbed Telefunken tubes. I also use the Michell Record Clamp.
The Thorens' Isotrack TP16 MKIII straight tonearm has always been considered subordinate to the SME's. However, in my opinion, the TP 16 MKIII arm is very underrated, and others (like the SME's and RB 200/300) are overrated and hyped. For optimum in tracking ability it is not sufficient that a tonearm has low bearing friction. It is much more important that is has a low effective mass, because high mass prevents the stylus from following the imperfections (warp or ripple) of the record as it should do. To overcome high effective mass one can increase the stylus force, but this results in excessive record wear. Thorens has solved the effective mass problem by removing any unnecessary weight from the tone arm.The head shell is reduced to a shielding device, and the detachable connector is placed close to the pivots where it has negligible influence on the effective mass. In addition, Thorens Isotrack is a straight arm and not S-shaped. The necessary offset angle is independent of the arm shape.Typical arms have effective masses of around 15 grams.The Thorens Isotrack is half this figure, allowing it to track at the lowest possible stylus pressures. A special surface treatment of the tone arm tube - "split wave technology" - absorbs all undesirable resonances of the tonearm.
http://stereonomono.blogspot.com/2010/08/thorens-td-126-mk-iii.html
Next up is the venerable DL-103 and the more recent iteration the DL-103r. In my opinion, many Music Lovers are missing out on the superb sound and the amazing affordability of these Low Output carts by listening to the audio Status Quo. The Denon carts have a magical mid-range and that is what makes them very special. Most of your musical information is in this range. The following is a very good read: http://www.silcom.com/~aludwig/EARS.htm as is this:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?ranlg&1034089946 The Denon's get a bad rap with regard to the frequency extremes and refinement. Most Audiophiles will tell you that modifying is absolutely necessary to really appreciate these cartridges. This includes changing the plastic body that houses the stock 103 and 103r carts, re-tipping, switching out the cantilever, etc.... as done by Soundsmith: http://www.sound-smith.com/ . Will the Denons sound better after all this surgery? I don't know and I may never know because I enjoy the price/performance ratio of these carts in stock form. I recently purchased the Living Stereo Re-issue of Rimsky-Korsakoff Scheherazade by Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sidney Harth, Violin Solo which was pressed at Quality Record Pressings/ Analogue Productions. The stock DL-103r delivers an unbelievable audio experience. Highly Recommended!!! All the attributes Audiophiles identify with a perfect reproduction were exquisitely presented by my Focal Utopia Diva Be speakers which are ruthlessly revealing. Personally, I am more than satisfied with my Denons in stock form. In my opinion, a great Step-Up-Transformer and great System Synergy, makes all the difference in being satisfied with the performance (in stock form) of these extraordinary "Audio Bargains".
Conclusion:
Cost is not necessarily proportional to satisfaction.