Ok, so I nuded my Denon DL103R and installed in a Mahogany body

[mjw21a]

Ok, since I now have my Denon DL303 I no longer had such a great fear of killing my DL103R, which has had very little use since I got the 303. So I took a crack at nuding it and installing in a new body.

Just after nuding

After installing in the mahogany body with some brush on superglue

Installed and listening to the Best of Sade

I found the mahogany body seemed to warm up the sound somewhat and soften the sound somewhat, definitely inferior to the DL303 with the pictured Sade record, though amazing with my 4x Best of Jim Reeves records. Plenty of air and superior imaging to the DL303, simply softer and less defined. I preferred this with Jim Reeves though I find I don't like it with newer recordings.

At least I have my DL103R back in rotation. I simply stopped using it after getting the DL303 as it was so much better. With the wooden body, its simply better than the DL303 with some, mostly older recordings, and the DL303 is actually quite evenly balanced and great across pretty much everything.

 

[bob06]

Glad it worked out for you. I nuded my 103 to put in an aluminum body and broke the cantilever. Ouch! Had to sent it to soundsmith for a retip. Ouch!

 

[4-2-7]

Those are some dirty pictures

I hope you like it

 

[mkane]

Glued to the headshell also. I see no fasteners.

 

[mjw21a]

Glued to the headshell also. I see no fasteners.

No, the body came with little screws which screw straight into the wooden body. I originally intended to install it on the cherry wooden headshell but the screws are nowhere near long enough to reach, and are not of the usual, thicker gauge

 

[mkane]

Your thread is of interest because I had a 103r installed in a Paradox Pulse body. The wood body's are intriguing.

 

[mjw21a]

Glad it worked out for you. I nuded my 103 to put in an aluminum body and broke the cantilever. Ouch! Had to sent it to soundsmith for a retip. Ouch!

Thats a great shame. Makes for an expensive exercise when that happens.

Your thread is of interest because I had a 103r installed in a Paradox Pulse body. The wood body's are intriguing.

Yes, I've a black Paradox Pulse body in my stash at home. I just never found I got around to installing it. I may see if I can pick up an inexpensive DL103 eventually and install into that body purely out of interest regarding how the sound would change. How did you find a metal body affected yours? I can imagine it would provide more bass, and probably harder/better defined sound vs the mahogany body..... Having said that, I'm very happy with the change. Softer edges to sounds means it sounds more refined and nuanced than before, and brings the same benefit of added bass. I suspect due to the increase in weight on the cartridge.

 

[mkane]

It's not in my possession, yet. Due to arrive tomorrow. Been listening to a cheap man's 103 for the past few days.

 

[mjw21a]

It's not in my possession, yet. Due to arrive tomorrow. Been listening to a cheap man's 103 for the past few days.

Hmmmm, I've never heard a Shure I've liked..... I've heard a number of Empire and Grado MM's I've liked though...... Crikey, is that a Pulse Guard body on that Shure? What sort of difference did it make, and how did you do it?

 

[mkane]

That is a universal pulse body. Gave it some meat. Cartridge is flat across the board..Not bad for less that a C note.

 

[mjw21a]

That is a universal pulse body. Gave it some meat. Cartridge is flat across the board..Not bad for less that a C note.

Hmmmm, I've an unknown model vintage beige coloured Grado on the way with what is apparently a titanium cantilever and nude diamond tip. I wonder whether this would fit it and potentially improve it? Further to this, where can you buy them?

 

[mjw21a]

Listening to Norah Jones "Come Away With Me" album. I've always found issues with slight distortion on higher notes with this album, even with my shibata tipped DL303. This seems to have gone away with the wood body on the DL103R. This album is sounding magical to my ears right now. Mis tracking on the inner grooves seems greatly improved vs its stock form. I'm amazed at the difference.


This brings me to the next part. What difference would potting this cart make vs leaving it nude? I know that it would offer better protection for the cart, but what difference would it make sonically? Any insights would be appreciated.

As for my above post, I ended up tracking down one of the universal Pulse bodies and its on its way from overseas now. Hopefully I can figure out how to rebody my mystery Grado cart once it arrives. Grado's seem to offer a different sound to my Denon carts. Surrounds you more. The one I tried had a bad hum in my system though I'm hoping it was just the one cart.

 

[Selmerdave]

What arm are you using? The 103 and the 303 have pretty dramatically different compliance, do they not? Nice pics/review.

 

[mjw21a]

I'm running the stock arm on my JVC QL7. I believe it falls in between medium to high compliance. The DL303 was significantly better before I put the wooden body on the DL103R. Now they're simply different with the 303 having better retrieval of fine detail, and flatter overall response. The 103 now seems to have more air and a wider sound stage, though the frequency response of the 303 is better. It seems I can clearly hear different details from each cart....

 

[mkane]

http://www.paradoxpulse.com/

 

[ateal]

What version of "Come Away With Me" do you have. I can't say I have noticed any issues at all on that album. I can't remember my version, will have to check tonight.

 

[marcmorin]

Hmmmm, I've an unknown model vintage beige coloured Grado on the way with what is apparently a titanium cantilever and nude diamond tip. I wonder whether this would fit it and potentially improve it? Further to this, where can you buy them?

the one that was on ebay? Grado never made a titanium cantilever, somebody pulled the front label off that MTE or MCE body.

 

[mjw21a]

the one that was on ebay? Grado never made a titanium cantilever, somebody pulled the front label off that MTE or MCE body.

Yeah, it was from eBay...... I really know nothing of Grado's. Seller said it sounded great, so I bought it.

What version of "Come Away With Me" do you have. I can't say I have noticed any issues at all on that album. I can't remember my version, will have to check tonight.

Seems to primarily be the inner grooves, though I suspect it might just be that the record is dirty. It was left sitting on the player for a fair while after I first got it.