First off, the brush is cool. But not necessary. However, make sure you track at the correct VTF to match whether or not you employ the brush. I, muself, do use it. I find the tracking a little better just because I can track a lot heavier without the stylus or shank seeing the weight! This is a neat trick that many Shures used, as well. Look, one big advantage of the Denon DL-103 is that it can track happily at 2.5 to 3 grams. This allows it to stay firmly in the groove despite crap and warps and other mess. I mean, I have records that will only track at about 3 grams. Yeah, I can hear all the griping, but keep it to yourself unless you have personal experience to back it up. No theoretical nonsense!
Alright, so the brush allows me to get the advantages of tracking at 1.25 g and also 2.5 g. Which is a real neat trick.
Second, this cartridge sounds really good. Not just accurate but warm, pleasant, and vinyl-y. Just like a good tube amp should sound tube-y, a good cartridge should make a plastic record sound like a plastic record. Which can be really, really pleasurable! Let's not have any talk about accuracy or the stepless nature of analogue recordings! If you want accuracy, get some hidef stream. Or even a well mastered CD. They will be more accurate. But they can never match the sheer sensuous pleasure of a fine turntable, a fine cartridge, a class a or well-designed push pull valve amplifier.
If you want to cream in your audiophile shorts, get one of these damn Stanton 681EEE or a Shure V15 II improved or a Denon DL-103 and a fine tube preamp and amp like my old Dynnas or newer whizbang Amazon cheapies and a good Thorens, 1200 Mark II, Dual idler, Garrard 103, or original Swiss Lenco with the crazy old bearings or anything with as much character. And you will have a real experience of beauty!!!
I got mine free with a Sansui SR-7090. One hell of a deal. But that's another story! Enjoy. Otherwise, there's no point. None at all. So enjoy! Y'all hear?
