TIME to break in a Denon 103R

Actually, Doug, there are several issues at once here, besides breaking in (an unavoidable process). Record wear, trackability, stylus shape, the inadequacies of the analog medium and the cash outlay necessary for making low output MC's (and other low output designs, like some moving iron cartridges). Something good should come out of this.

I recently found an Audio Tecnica AT-15S cartridge I was given by my father's friend who introduced me to high end when I was 14 years old. Also found a Shure V15 III he sold me for $30. I wonder if this $400 MM AT cartridge is essentially the same:

http://www.needledoctor.com/s.nl/it.A/id.3822/.f?sc=7&category=578

Perhaps John N. can shed some light...

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Psychicanimal, the vintage Audio Technicas sound nothing like the new family sound of overdamped bass and leaning-towards-the-bright current crop (which has advantages in too-warm or flabby systems however): they are rich, smoooooth and very very musical. The first of these superb vintage cartridges is likely the AT13 with various tips (Shibata/stereohedron, hyper-elliptical, elliptical, conical), moving through the AT-14, AT15 and then the AT20, each of which is superb, with the '20 likely being the best of the bunch. They still have a "neutral" flavour as compared with other vintage MMs like the ADCs. All of these are worth seeking out and trying, if one is into MMs. They also had a "TK" line (TK-9, TK-7, TK-5) which sounds rich and excellent. I haven't heard the latest '150, but I assume anyway it will have the current traditional A-T sound.

Hi Dan, while in Berlin recently I discovered an elliptical-tipped Denon DL-103 which I bought along with a new plain 103. I'll be comparing the two to see what pluses and minuses there are relative to each other, since there is some buzz that the conical tip is in fact responsible for its great sense of gestalt/organic wholeness. Phonophono in Berlin sells these retipped by a German fellow and orderable for 147 euros (!) from www.phonophono.de, though it isn't on their website (you'll have to ask for it specifically in an e-mail or phonecall). They are apparently modified from trade-ins by a man they call The Needle Man (apparently not many names for cartridge builder/modifiers). They claim this Denon DL-103"E" is greatly superior to the "R" version, to add to the confusion ;-)! In the meantime, I continue to be a great admirer of the plain DL-103. If the elliptical tip adds without subtracting I'll be one mesmerized fellow!

Thanks for your help, John. My father's friend was a freak when it came to spending cartridges. I think he went astray when he jumped on the low output MC wagon and sold his Technics SP-10 for a SOTA vacuum. Earlier this year he admitted to me switching to the SOTA was a mistake. The cartridge he gave me is an AT-15S. I found a supplier of NOS Audio Technica stylus and they have the AT-S15 replacements.

As for the conical/distortion cancelling issue, I will give it a shot. Got this Pickering XSV/3000 body on eBay and will buy a NOS eliptical stylus from KAB. I never liked the idea of using my Shibata/Fritz Geiger tips with 60's records anyway. If this works out, then I can have KAB prepare an eliptical or conical stylus for my modded Groovemaster.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&item=160006556787&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I think it's time for a new thread...

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At 50 hours they start to sound good but at 100 hours you will know what they sound like.