Denon 103r ????

I'm not so sure that the cartridge is actually phase reversed so much as the pin arrangement on the Denons is different from other cartridges possibly resulting in incorrect hookup and phase reversal, but perhaps someone else can shed more light on this.

As to removing the body, this is a fun watch:

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

It's pretty simple. Tried to post it as a link but had problems.

Seems the link does work!

Hi Richard
RE:Care to share a few more impressions of the Soundsmith retip? This is one I have been seriously looking at, and I'm curious if you repotted it in the ebony body, nuded it, or simply retipped with the line-contact/ruby cantelever?

I did both the normal line contact and optimised line contact retips on the 103R. Both are serious upgrades on the stock 103R. The base LC retip gives it better extension while enhancing the mids of the Denon, giving a more liquid presentation. The optimised LC is another leap up. Whereas the base LC gives better definition overall, the OLC goes further in letting you hear more inner detail, like the initial strike of the key and its harmonics, and a more developed soundstage. Its also better at tracking the start/end of an LP.

Since the stock 103R is a conical stylus, VTA is not so critical, but once SS has put on the LC/OLC styli, VTA/VTF are much more important. I've found that it has to be tail down, VTF about 1.8-1.9g (tracks lighter due to the reduced moving mass of the ruby). Mounted on the Schroeder2, it gives an enveloping wall of sound with the soundstage extending from well outside the speakers & room walls.

While the stock 103R is a bargain for the sound it offers, and the key here is coherence, it doesn't have the detail at both extremes, but what it does, it does well- which is a lot better than most carts in, and perhaps about 3x that price range. The LC retip brings it up to the $1.5-3k price range, the OLC retip is in the major league, competing with carts >$3k.

As in all things vinyl, there are many variables here, especially the cart/arm/phono matching, so YMMV.

A member on the Vinyl Asylum has asked for someone to send him a modded 103 for comparison with his MagicDiamond and I have sent him an email saying that I will be happy to accommodate.

He posted a picture of the back of the MagicDiamond that looks no different from a normal unmodded 103 so not works has been done back there.

Well, I do think the MagicDiamond is in fact a modded 103 but we shall here what an owner of said cartridge thinks of the two. My modded cartridge has the Uwe wood body so I am betting it will outdo his.

I think an owner of a 103 whether it is called a ZU or a MagicDiamond or Clearaudio Talisman, needds to use the right arm and load the cart correctly. That means:

16+ grams effective weight up to 30grams
active stage 100ohms
transformer 103 = 40ohms, 103r = 14ohms.

If you have the MagicDiamond or the Talisman you body worries are teaken care of. Stock, you need to remove that ringing plastic body - or at the very least put some duct tape on the outside of the 103s body.

This may seem off-topic, but what tools and methods do you use to align your cartridge on your tonearm? I've been using the paper guide that came with my RB-300. Square carts like the 103 are easy to set up. Non-square carts like the Sonata are much more difficult. Would a protractor help align things more accurately? fwiw, I adjust VTA by sight.