A little Denon DL-103 project starting...

mprince

Super Member
I ordered a Paradox Pulse Guard aluminium body for my DL-103 this morning. Once it arrives I will de-body my stock DL-103 and do the required surgery (trimming of excess plastic) on it in order to fit it to the new body and encapsulate it in epoxy and lead shot.

Why? I found the body kit when doing some searches on cartridge spacers and found it very interesting (also, I like to do DIY mods but I do not have a machine shop or milling equipment handy). Have been interested in this since seeing the somewhat recent thread on the AT LP1240 where the user had a DL-103R with this body (he had Paradox do the mod on his though). I could have sent my 103 to Paradox and have them do all the work for an additional $60, but that's too easy :)

Worst case I ruin the cartridge by breaking coil wires, which I will know before I epoxy it to the body. If I do, I suppose a replacement is only a couple of mouse clicks (and some cash) away. I will try to be brave and take some pictures as I go in case anyone is interested in how this turns out.
 
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I just did my first 103 in the Paradox Body and I broke the cantilever. So off to Soundsmith it went. 8 to 14 weeks wait but when it comes back it will have the Ruby cantilever with the Line Contact stylus. Cant wait. Gook luck in doing yours.
 
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Not to steal thunder, but if you want some pointers or photos, someone recently did this job themselves and documented it very well with photos and descriptions on another forum dedicated to a specific brand of classic idler drives.

http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=22151.0
Good stuff, no thunder to steal here. Just trying to help others who may be interested in this mod :). Terence (the owner of Paradox Pulse) also has several videos on his website which show all of the steps right up until when the epoxy goes into the shell.
 
Sounds interesting. I don't think I have the skills to do that but I wish you all the luck. I would like to know your opinion of the mod when it's done.
 
Well, I had all the right intentions with this. I had planned to get out the DSLR and do a detailed step by step on this. Here's how it came together;

1. Received package from Paradox Pulse on Monday (he ships next day air), I was out of town on a business trip.

2. Terence from Paradox recommends doing this while relaxed and in a good mood. I was neither when I arrived home from a stressful trip Thursday night.

3. Opened the package and figured I'd get started on it to relax. Cut the glue bonds on the plastic cover and within 5 minutes I had a "nude" DL-103. All this took was a sharp X-Acto knife and a small screwdriver to pry with.

4 Grabbed a pair of side and flush cutters from the garage to trim plastic and in less than 5 minutes the excess body "wings" of the 103 were gone. This is necessary to fit into the Paradox shell. If you think a cartridge is small, handle one without its cover - not many places to grab it. Of course on the first cut the cartridge flies out of my fingers and onto the carpet in my (home) office. Miraculously no damage except to my heart :). Checked the cantilever/stylus as well as the pins with an ohmmeter and all was good (phew). From here on out I held the cartridge more carefully and with a set of pliers on the pins.

5. At this point the trimmed cartridge is placed in the shell and 9 very small pieces of lead shot are carefully inserted between the cartridge and its new body. Pretty easy, required the slightest manipulation (and a bit more plastic trimming to make room) to make sure everything was in the right place.

6. Once everything is in place, I checked the new assembly to ensure the cartridge was sitting level and flat in the new body. The next step is to securely apply small strips of painter's tape (included in the kit) at the "seams" between the cartridge and body at the back (pins) of the cartridge to seal things up in preparation for the next step. At this point I probably had 12-15 minutes invested in the project.

7. Now for the final step - epoxy potting. I bought a few small syringes of quick-set epoxy and squeezed right out of the tube into the cartridge body, one drop at a time. This was a bit nerve racking as I did not want to make a mess, but more importantly if I got any glue on the cantilever it would be game over. This took a few minutes, but was fairly straightforward. After a few minutes, I removed the tape from the cartridge and checked for any epoxy seepage to clean up (there was none). I really took my time here, by time I was done and cleaned up the tools and desk I had probably hit the 30 minute mark.

I let the assembly sit overnight on my desk to fully cure. In the morning I mounted it to a headshell, installed it and set tracking force. Couple of notes:
- I initially used my Zupreme headshell, even with a 17g aux weight on the tonearm of my SL-1200 it was too heavy and the tonearm could not balance or be set properly. With the new body, the cartridge now weighs ~15g so it is quite heavy. In the end I used a lightweight stock Technics headshell and was able to set the cartridge at 2.5g.
- With the new body, the overall cartridge height is increased to the point where the tonearm can be leveled within the range of the SL-1200 VTA adjustment, no need to stack mats as I did with the stock DL-103.

- End result , I think things definitely tighten up for lack of a better term (I do not have golden ears so these descriptions are difficult for me). The bass seems a bit more refined and there is more clarity on the top end. Pics below (excuse my dust :))

20160109_080038~2.jpg 20160108_161841-1.jpg 20160108_161954-1.jpg
 
Nice job. You did it without breaking it. I wished I could have said the same.
 
Very cool, nice work. What brand of epoxy did you use?
Loctite I think, bought it at the hobby/craft store. Smallest syringe I could find. Paradox prefers slow-cure epoxy as it provides more time for clean up before it sets, but also says 5-minute works just as well.
 
And great pic's. I've got around 15hrs. on a 103r. I'm keeping an eye on this thread. Thanks.

 
And great pic's. I've got around 15hrs. on a 103r. I'm keeping an eye on this thread. Thanks.
Believe it or not they are cropped shots from my cell phone, finally got one with a good camera (Samsung Note 5). My 103 was new in November and I probably had about 50 hours on it prior to this week. Definite improvement in the sound and a fun project. If one is nervous about doing a job like rewiring a tonearm, Paradox will do this work on your supplied cartridge for $60 or you can buy a complete one directly from them.
 
When that happens I'll either get it retipped, soak it in acetone to soften the glue and pull it apart, or get another cartridge/body and do it all over again.
 
I just got mine back from him this week. There was a time I would have tried this but I have a lot of nerve damage in my right arm. I bought the DIY body and he mounted my new 103 in a red body. Not bad for a total cost of $118 bucks. I got the 103 for $150 plus the body and potting $118. Grand total $268 not bad not bad at all. Just waiting on my modded VPI bearing to come back from Jim Howard at Applied Fidelity and I can mount it up. I hope I like it.
Sturgus
 
I just got mine back from him this week. There was a time I would have tried this but I have a lot of nerve damage in my right arm. I bought the DIY body and he mounted my new 103 in a red body. Not bad for a total cost of $118 bucks. I got the 103 for $150 plus the body and potting $118. Grand total $268 not bad not bad at all. Just waiting on my modded VPI bearing to come back from Jim Howard at Applied Fidelity and I can mount it up. I hope I like it.
Sturgus

I will be there to help mount it on the VPI and yes, we will like it.

Can't wait to hear it versus your MP 500.
 
A comparison between a modded 103/103R and a MP 500 will be an interesting one. Looking forward to your thoughts on these two cartridges.
I will be there to help mount it on the VPI and yes, we will like it.

Can't wait to hear it versus your MP 500.
 
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