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After all it has a lowly conical stylus!
As a music lover who caught the bug in '73, I was breast fed on light tracking, high compliance cartridges and increasingly more radical, cutter head analogue styli.
I never thought I'd own a cartridge with a conical stylus. But the 103R sounds fantastic regardless.
I know the conical stylus is less sensitive to alignment, vta etc. I think this is the reason why my Ortofon X3-MC (elliptical) sounds better than the X5-MC (Fritz Geiger II) to me. I'm careful about alignment, but I know it is never going to be perfect. There are a few too many variables.
When a cartridge is available with different styli (such as most Ortofons), go for the elliptical version. That's why I picked the Ortofon Samba over the Salsa, for example.
Those of you considering any cartridge, regardless of price should really consider the 103R.
Follow Ups:
I have enjoyed listening to the 103R for quite a while since day one and I consider it superior to many, more expensive, cartridges, for example the Dynavector 17Dmk2 and the Kotesu Black.
I also use the 103R and really agree that for the money this cartridge is very hard to beat. One has to spend a lot more to get a better performance. However, for those considering it, one word of caution is that it has a very low compliance - 5 and must use a heavy mass tonearm.
If you look at the DL-103/103R under magnification, you will see a very nicely mounted nude square shank stylus. A far cry from the cheap bonded conicals.
Henry
It looks like its faceted flat.Maybe its an optical illusion at that perspective.Dennis
square shank diamond.
Henry
I was quite impressed with even the plain jane DL-103 when I first tried one after using an Audio Technica OC0ML/II for 18 months. I purchased the Denon primarily to check out what all the hub-bub was about and figured that it would be a decent back up anyway as my AT was getting up towards the 100 hr mark of use. So I installed it when I sent my OC9 back to AT for re-tipping/exchange.After putting the DL-103 on the OC9 did not get nearly as much use when it came back. After putting about 500 hrs on the DL-103, I sent it to Sound-Smith to be re-tipped with a Ruby Cantilever and Line Contact stylus. Yes, that made it much more alignment and VTA sensitive but the resulting cartridge retained *ALL* of the positive attributes of the original DL-103 and gained transparency, detail, space and "air" and now tracks at about 1.7 grams (over the originals 2.3 grams or so).
I ended up selling my just barely broke in OC9 a few months ago
The line contact stylus should wear longer than the conical also.
I have a giant smile on my face regarding my current setup. I can't recall ever being this satisfied with my rig.
With my new Hagerman Cornet2 and my Sound-Smith upgraded DL-103, I smile all day listening to record after record and my household chores seem to be getting pretty backed up...
--
Al G
Born To Tinker!
great combo...
The Denon has one of the finest spherical stylus ever made but time has passed it by..it's nice to know that it's worth having it re-tipped with a more modern stylus profile. I suspected as much.I have a new DL-103 and a Grace F-9. The Grace had a worn stylus so that got the sound smith re-tip first. One of these days the denon will get some new shoes..nice to hear the results are worth it..
regards
Ernie
How did the Grace work out? Was the suspension replaced, too?
He never mentioned having to do it..I know he does do a mechanical and electrical inspection with every re-tip. The suspension seems to be operating fine and from a visual inspection everything seems as it should be.As far as the sound...well I'll just say I'm surprised at the difference a stylus profile can make. I've been having a lot of fun rediscovering my albums.
as I knew precious little about what actually was involved with re-tip service..or even that other parts besides the stylus are subject to wear..the stylus seems centered..straight up and down etc
Now you have a Grace Ruby, but with a better tip. :)Did it ride that high before? I ask because many Grace cartridges become low-riders. If he can fix that, I can probably round one up to send him.
but then after trying to use a V15xMR with a collapsed suspension in a medium weight arm you can imagine anything would seem better.I kinked the cantilever fairly soon after its arrival..I will never use a hand held magnifier anywhere near a cartridge again!
from sound-smith. because the alignment is more forgiving.
but there is so much praise for the fine line and i didn't hear anyone over burdened with setup so there i go.
~Slainte, Pardner
The OMalley
worth it?? Uh, yes, I think so . . . ;8^)
Henry
Have you done a comparison?
My next cartridge after my relitivly new (NOS) AT11E wears out will probably be a 103R. Who knows maybe some people prefer the plain jane 103.
I've not heard a "R" so cannot speak to that.
Henry
i'm workin' on it. maybe three more months of heavy use.
~Slainte, Pardner
The OMalley
Henry
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