Denon 103 Hot Rod Version Red Body?
Somewhere within this forum, I read a fascinating story/posting concerning an American who was instrumental in not only saving the Denon 103 from extinction, but was involved in creating a Hot Rod version of the 103 housed in what I remember as a red cartridge body.
Does anyone know what and to whom I am referring?
Does anyone know what and to whom I am referring?
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- 5 posts total
These were made from Eclectic Audio (Mr. Garth Phillippe) in Germany, it is called Shibui. It is a Denon 103 with a new Metal-Body and a Shibata needle. The rework was made from a professional needle specialist in Germany, maybe something more was made. I think Eclectic sold them worldwide quite successfully, but I don't know how much of them. Unfortunately there are fakes existing in Germany (DIY guys who bought the red body and made their own "experiments"). The originals have an own manual. I own a special Shibui based 103R, he made only 4 of them. It has a blue body. |
It's difficult to tell from the above photo, if the cartridge has a purpleheart or anodized alloy body. The Shibui, made by the late, great Garth Phillippe had a milled alloy body which was anodized red. Here's a photo of one I used to run on an 18 gram, Ebony arm wand Schroeder Reference. http://www.galibierdesign.com/zzz_shibui.html If you scroll down the page, you'll see the original box along with a top view of the cartridge. Without knowing, you wouldn't be able to tell from my photo either - whether it's purpleheart or anodized alloy, but rest assured that the Shibui was indeed an alloy and not wood-bodied. For a hot rodded Denon, these days, I'd go to Soundsmith. Cheers, Thom @ Galibier |
- 5 posts total