Denon DP-300F Direct-Drive Turntable Review

The Denon DP-300F Direct-Drive Turntable is a mid-grade turntable that is designed for individuals who enjoy the automatic feature of the starter units. It is completely automated and has an inbuilt phono preamp for direct connection to the receivers which only accept line level connections. At $329 this turntable is a good bargain.

Full Review Of The Denon DP-300F Direct-Drive Turntable

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Several features make the Denon DP-300F an exemplary turntable. Below are a few of those features:

Denon DP-300F Construction

Turntables must not only revolve at an exact speed but also resist vibrations that are induced by the music itself, playing in the apartment. The 4 mm thick cabinet wall of this player provides rigidity and strength, and high density. It is completed in high gloss piano black. Superior anti-resonant feet prevents vibrations both from the table it is sitting on and the air from reaching the stylus.

Control

This player uses a servo control system in maintaining accurate speed. A sensor in the motor spots and monitors the speed and adjusts the motor to play correctly at 45 rpm or 33 r.p.m.

Drive

The phono cartridge of this player picks up vibrations in the record groove. In case the motor creates vibrations, it picks those up and the low-frequency sounds are known as rumble. The Belt drive separates the motor from the platter so rumble is significantly reduced.

Automation

There are a few low priced, and low quality ‘record players’ that are fully automatic. However, there are almost no other auto or even semi-automatic turntables that are available on the market today. A majority of the turntables today are entirely manual.

With Denon DP-300F, you will just have to lift the dust cover, then the player lifts the tonearm over, slowly lowers it on the record and then plays. As soon as the record is finished, it will raise the tonearm and return it to rest and then shut off.

Tonearm

The Denon DP-300F Direct-Drive Turntable has a well-designed straight tonearm built for correct geometry to reduce tracking error. The high-quality moving magnet phono cartridge is factory mounted. In case you want to upgrade to Denon’s DL-110 moving coil cartridge, it is very simple because of the detachable headshell. Modifiable anti-skating force is also attached. An arm lift slowly lowers and lifts the arm to a different song selection on the album. This tonearm is counter-balanced design, with low friction.

Denon DP-300F Preamp

A majority of home theatre receivers no longer come fitted with a phono input. The TV, tuner, CD, or tape inputs are looking for about a volt input level. The phono cartridge has approximately three-thousandths of a volt. This very small voltage need to be amplified in the preamp. Furthermore, to compensate for the manner in which vinyl records are cut, the bass must be improved and the high frequencies reduced. This is referred to as RIAA equalization.

This player includes a phone preamp with RIAA and, therefore, it can be directly hooked into a low price mini system, TV or Aux inputs on the receiver that does not have phono inputs. For higher quality receivers and amps with a phono input, you can simply switch the inbuilt preamp off, under the platter.

Cartridge

This player also has a removable headshell that allows the user to effortlessly change cartridges. It can accept any cartridge which weighs between 5 and 10 grams. Excellent choices are naturally moving magnet alternatives which suit this price range: the Audio Technica AT440MLA and Shure M97xE are superb options.

Many individuals originally displeased with the sound of the Denon DP-300F become more and more excited when listening to a much better cartridge, and the DP-300F is worthy of upgrading straight away.