I had talked to Terence regarding his cartridge and decided to get the modified Zu Audio 103 Mk II instead after I found out that Andy Kim did the install for the saphhire/microridge stylus (he held my ZYX hostage even though he broke the stylus and retipped it without my permission and did such a bad job, I'm having it re-retipped). I got the grade 2 premium version and paid $1100 for it. Same concept, Zu Audio added mass to it and isolated the cartridge. The weight of the Zu Audio modded 103 cartridge is14 gm.
I have a Kuzma Stabi R table and the 4P tonearm. The cartridge has not yet been broken in and I'm enjoying it quite a bit - more like pleasantly surprised. Both my carts, the ZYX Universe II X and Ortofon Anna are being retipped (talk about bad timing), but I don't miss them as much as I thought I would. The same Zu Audio modded cartrige made it to Class B Stereophile list for 2020 - fwiw. I'm not saying that the Zu Audio cartridge is as good as the Universe II X or the Anna, but based on its price tag, it punches way above that. If saving money was my top priority, I would definitely chose the Zu Audio modded 103 over the more expensive (> $5k) cartridges, now that I know. I needed a cartridge fast, and that was the reason I made the purchase.
Terence is using the same concept as Zu, but in addition, also replaced the original cantilever/stylus with the sapphire/microridge combo as some have said that the 103's weakness is it's conical stylus. For the price I paid for the Zu with the original 103 cantilever/stylus, Terence is offering a retipped 103R cartridge with sapphire/microridge stylus and his shell (Paradox Pulse Guard). His ad is USAM is at -
https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649625677-paradoxpulse-guard-r-smr-new-denon-103r-based-motor-sapphire-cantilever-micro-ridge-diamond/
Give Terence a call, if you have any questions - he can probably do a better job of explaining his cartridge better than I can.
There's also another company called Musikraft that does also modifies the 103, but is more expensive (starting at $1959). Their version made it to Class A Stereophile list in 2020. They also do not modify the original stylus/cantilever of the 103. To me, the $1959 was harder to swallow, although their technology seems to do more and might try it out in the future sometime. Their website is https://audiomusikraft.com/
I have a Kuzma Stabi R table and the 4P tonearm. The cartridge has not yet been broken in and I'm enjoying it quite a bit - more like pleasantly surprised. Both my carts, the ZYX Universe II X and Ortofon Anna are being retipped (talk about bad timing), but I don't miss them as much as I thought I would. The same Zu Audio modded cartrige made it to Class B Stereophile list for 2020 - fwiw. I'm not saying that the Zu Audio cartridge is as good as the Universe II X or the Anna, but based on its price tag, it punches way above that. If saving money was my top priority, I would definitely chose the Zu Audio modded 103 over the more expensive (> $5k) cartridges, now that I know. I needed a cartridge fast, and that was the reason I made the purchase.
Terence is using the same concept as Zu, but in addition, also replaced the original cantilever/stylus with the sapphire/microridge combo as some have said that the 103's weakness is it's conical stylus. For the price I paid for the Zu with the original 103 cantilever/stylus, Terence is offering a retipped 103R cartridge with sapphire/microridge stylus and his shell (Paradox Pulse Guard). His ad is USAM is at -
https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649625677-paradoxpulse-guard-r-smr-new-denon-103r-based-motor-sapphire-cantilever-micro-ridge-diamond/
Give Terence a call, if you have any questions - he can probably do a better job of explaining his cartridge better than I can.
There's also another company called Musikraft that does also modifies the 103, but is more expensive (starting at $1959). Their version made it to Class A Stereophile list in 2020. They also do not modify the original stylus/cantilever of the 103. To me, the $1959 was harder to swallow, although their technology seems to do more and might try it out in the future sometime. Their website is https://audiomusikraft.com/