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DL-103r with a Soundsmith Retip revelation

I've been sort of a DL103 naysayer for awhile. Tried them on numerous occasions, in different forms. I've had them nude, with a wood body, with a metal body, and stock. I've never been engaged. I've been using a Herron VTPH-2 with plenty of gain so that hasn't been the problem. I've been looking for a backup cartridge while my Decca London is back getting retipped and I went ahead and purchased a 103r with a wood body that was just fitted with a aluminum cantilever and a Line Contact stylus from Soundsmith. And now I get it! Such a pleasure to listen to. Clean and wonderful and smooth. Vocals are awesome. Violins really get you. I'm very happy. Sold off my 2M Black, my Audio Note IQ3 and selling my AT150sa. All really great cartridges but not as good in my system.
dhcod
8 responses Add your response
tonyptony
617 posts
 
How did you get Line Contact on the aluminum cantilever? I thought the AL pipe came with a hyper-elliptical. I was looking at a SS retip as I recently bent the cantilever on my 103R. I was hesitant because I frankly like the conical stylus on the Denon. My copy, before it’s unfortunate accident, could track anything and sounded great in its aluminum body. I wasn’t sure if going with the line contact or even the hyper-elliptical would make it more "picky" - more finicky about how it was set up. For a few dollars more I could just get a new 103R.

Can you describe how it's improved over the Denon's conical? Is it harder to align?
dhcod OP
710 posts
 
It was super simple to align for me on my SME M2-12R but almost everything is on this arm for some reason.

I think the sound just opens up enough to not be so dark but still retains the tonal strengths of the conical. It's definitely more dynamic.
tonyptony
617 posts
 
Thanks. I don't see the line contact / aluminum cantilever option on the SS site. How long did it take, and what was the price?
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Indeed, it’s not difficult at all to set up any cartridge with LineContact or even FritzGyger stylus and relater profiles. The required tools are: Test Record (like Hi-Fi Test LP), Decent protractor (like Feickert) and Digital Scale (like Ortofon). If you can setup a Conical tip then you can setup a LineContact too.

The only benefit of the Conical tip is that a setup can be completely wrong and you will barely hear any difference.
tonyptony
617 posts
 
Agreed. I just finished setting up a Purple Heart NS so I think I could do it, but there's something to be said for a backup cart that's completely painless to set up. :-) Maybe I'll compromise with the SS hyper-elliptical. 
dhcod OP
710 posts
 
I double checked with the really nice gentleman I bought it from and it turns out this one was retipped by Needle Clinic in Seattle, not Soundsmith. It got confused with another cartridge he was selling. I've got to do more research on this place and report back.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
I'm glad to see you now know what I've learned about the 103R. Mine was a very closely-matching Zu Denon, which I sent to ESCCO in London for their white sapphire cantilever-Paratrace stylus upgrade. I'm very happy with it, though I've taken flack from members for spending so much on such a cartridge. It was $350 well spent in my opinion.

Enjoy,
Dan
dhcod OP
710 posts
 
It really is. I have a Decca London on the way back from the UK with a new Paratrace and I can't wait! 

I think ultimately the thing besides the LC stylus that made the 103r click for me is that I'm now using a very heavy Fidelity Research headshell with lead tape layered inside to add a chunk of weight. This allows me to use the second balance weight on the M2-12r so it's a pretty massive arm setup.
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