My slow descent into retro MC madness...

What made you think that you must use a SUT to get optimal performance from the Denon? I see no reason for using a SUT unless your phono stage does not have gain enough to amplify the output of the Denon adequately. If you own several phono stages, as your post implies, then surely/maybe/possibly at least one of them will mate well with the Denon. Then all you need is rudimentary soldering skill to install a pair of 100-ohm resistors for a proper load.

Thanks so far for your encouragement. Lewm, as for my bias toward an SUT, I have advice to the tune of about 20:1 that this is the way to go with a 103. I was being very intentional in my choice of a 45-year-old design-- my musical preference is often avant-garde jazz and small-ensemble chamber music from the late '50's-early '60's, and I wish to hear this part of my collection as it may have been intended or at least mixed. I bet nobody was using powered MC stages at that time-- that bet is heavily on a transformer. However, while I am waiting for it, I will certainly try the Zu through my three powered phono stages, all of which have a nominal loading of 100 Ohms in MC. You can bet that I will want something to compare the SUT to! This is the primary reason that I did not go with a DIY or a Lundahl or any of the other very good alternatives-- I want to hear the maximum difference between a powered MC stage and the SUT, and was willing to pay two or three times the base price for the privilege-- checking account be damned. Where I live, "audiophile" means somebody who is careful placing his 5.1 or 7.1 surround speakers for his consumer-grade HT setup, so I have nowhere to go but the net for advice, and I tend to do my research and commit without first listening. Viridian, if this sounds half as good as I'm hoping, I'm ordering a stock 103 or two and expanding the number of arms that can feed the Auditorium 23. I'ver heard that this SUT might work for some other mid- to high-impedance MCs of around 0.3mV output, like the Benzes and Shelters, so I'll try it out with my other carts, but I'm kinda in the mood for an all-valve horn setup for my vintage Ayler, Byrd, Coleman, Coltrane, Dolphy et al. and I like the idea of a mid-sixties broadcast standard cartridge for it. Hdm, I seriously considered the 103R (and still may buy one) but I was not sure that I would learn what the 103 magic is all about with that design-- Here in my isolated little studio, I am endeavoring to evolve through the technology that eluded me while I was working my way through high school, college, grad school, and family establishment. Only then will I know when it is time to jump off the modern merry-go-round, which I do intend to ride. If nothing else, the above have taught me patience; speaking of which, expect my review after I get a handle on this new front-end.

Morgenholz: If you are going to a multiarm setup and are considering another 103 or 103R, here is some food for thought (and relatively economical, at that) with respect to the 103/103R:

http://www.thomas-schick.com/Denon103.htm

The wood bodies can be purchased for $110 from an inmate at the vinyl asylum named Uwe who resides in Belgium.

The other consideration, although it is a bastardization of the "purist" point of view with the spherical stylus, is a retip of the Denons by Soundsmith using a ruby cantilever and line contact stylus at $250. There are a number of users who have reported this vaults the Denon performance even higher, as the wood body or nuding the cartridge does, but I do not know of anyone at this stage that has combined both the Soundsmith re-tip and the wood bodies.

The combination is something that may prove to be fabulous and I'm toying with the idea myself at this time, but must admit I'm leaning simply toward popping a new 103R into my ebony body when it nears the end of its lifespan later in '08 and possibly sending the older unit off for a re-tip at some point in time in the future. I'd then have both depending on preference and there are those, as you are probably aware, who do make a strong case in favor of the Denon's spherical stylus profile.

Good luck!