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Soundsmith, I broke the cantilever on my Denon Zu 103. :(

davstev

davstev

Well-Known Member
Hi all,

it took next to nothing to break the cantilever from my Denon Zu 103. There is was, just lying beneath the cartridge...

On the upside (desperate for a silver lining here), I bought this DL-103 Zu (not 103R), after it had been retipped at Soundsmith by a previous owner, and he chose the least expensive 'Aluminum Alloy Cantilever; Nude Hyper- Elliptical Diamond', at about $200. I always wondered if the cheapie cantilever was selling the cartridge short, but couldn't justify a retip, without good cause.

In order to make me feel better about today's mishap, I think I might go for an upgrade when I get a new cantilever. I'll be looking at Soundsmith's various options, and I'll be reading reviews online. But if anyone wants to offer their opinion on where I should draw the line in price vs. performance, please do.

I know retipping is expensive, and I want superb performance, but probably can't afford SS's top of the line offering...

Thanks in advance.

David
 
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I've used Soundsmith twice with excellent results. In both cases they replaced only the stylus, not the cantelever, so I can't speak to those options. But they were able to work with the ruby cantilever on a Dynavector and the boron cantilever on a high end Benz cartridge.

Personally, I prefer to "restore" rather than upgrade things like this so I would look for an option as close to original spec if the Denon was mine.
 
Sorry to hear your story Dave but as you said, now is your chance to upgrade this cart. I can't speak of
SS retipping but I did buy a Grace F9 stylus from them and am happy with the quality.
Good luck.
 
I have a 103 that Soundsmith put a ruby cantilever and a line contact stylus on. It is worth the price, I would do it again if anything happened to it. I don't think you would be disappointed. Preston
 
pjsjr said:
I have a 103 that Soundsmith put a ruby cantilever and a line contact stylus on. It is worth the price, I would do it again if anything happened to it. I don't think you would be disappointed. Preston
Click to expand...

Thank you for this. And, how much did that set you back?
 
dcmfan said:
I've used Soundsmith twice with excellent results. In both cases they replaced only the stylus, not the cantelever, so I can't speak to those options. But they were able to work with the ruby cantilever on a Dynavector and the boron cantilever on a high end Benz cartridge.

Personally, I prefer to "restore" rather than upgrade things like this so I would look for an option as close to original spec if the Denon was mine.
Click to expand...

If I am not mistaken, the Aluminum Alloy Cantilever; Nude Hyper- Elliptical Diamond is the closest to the original. Because I think the denon 103 natively has an aluminum alloy cantilever. Is the tonal characteristic change that comes with other choices besides the aluminum a bad thing? Wouldn't it generally sound better- at least with more detail? I mean, I know it'll cost more, but, would it make the music less appealing somehow?
 
davstev said:
If I am not mistaken, the Aluminum Alloy Cantilever; Nude Hyper- Elliptical Diamond is the closest to the original. Because I think the denon 103 natively has an aluminum alloy cantilever. Is the tonal characteristic change that comes with other choices besides the aluminum a bad thing? Wouldn't it generally sound better- at least with more detail? I mean, I know it'll cost more, but, would it make the music less appealing somehow?
Click to expand...

Great questions, but I don't have an experience to share about how sound might change with a different cantilever. But, the stiff cantilevers I have do sound sharp and fast, which I like. Also, when I said I prefer to restore, that's just a personal preference. I didn't mean to imply that there's anything wrong with any of the options Soundsmith offers.
 
You might check with AK's "Needlestein" lots of good reviews from AKer's that have had him repair their cartridges also.
 
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