Denon DL-103R Wood Body Mod

My experience with the Uwe Panzerholz body was the exact opposite of Dave's above.
I have both Ebony and Panzerholz Uwe bodies and both have enhanced the openness and transparency of the 103R's I've installed in them. Both wooded 103R's sound beautiful IMO. The Panzerholz sounds a little more transparent, cleaner and neutral than the Ebony - perhaps it's a little less 'velvety' sounding, but wonderfully natural.
Both sound very dynamic and alive. The big panoramic 103R staging is enhanced further and imaging is more solid and focussed.
It's perplexing that Dave's experience was so different - but then he was using a SoundSmith retipped 103 where I am using stock 103R's (my arm is the Graham Phantom II).

http://www.audioasylum.com/reviews/Phono-Cartridge/Uwe-s-Wood-Body-Denon-103-103R/Ebony-Wood-Body/vinyl/69/694577.html

The link above is to a review I wrote on the Ebony body about 3-4 years ago.

I've used both the stock 103R and Soundsmith retipped 103R in ebony and clavellin bodies and the benefits of the wood body are clearly apparent with both.

A rebodied 103R with a Soundsmith retip (can be done for around $800 in total, possibly less) is an astonishingly good cartridge that can compete with the very best at a fraction of the price.

For anyone interested, my Panzerholz pod is available. Mint. Dave

I have both the Panzerholtz and ebony and both are potted.
Which I thinks again makes a difference. The Panzer is on a SS retipped 103: ruby + fine line. The 103 is stock cantilever. Now the Ebony /w stock cantilever is a might dull in comparison to the Panzerholtz. A dramtic difference between the two. I prefer the retipped Panzeholtz.

but not as much as a humble cherry wood bodied 103R. This 103R has been retipped by soundsmith with an elliptical stylus on an aluminum cantilever, non stock.

It is my opinion that the aluminum cantilever should be kept. Use whatever stylus you want, but that cantilever imparts timbre that is what the 103 is all about. to me at least. this 103R is not potted, btw.

It is soon time to get the ebony bodied 103 retipped and I will have him try putting the fine line on the stock aluminum or a new aluminum cantilever if he cant fetch it onto the stock. I will drop back to an elliptical if he can't fit the fine line.

The reason is that the ruby cantilever is fast fast fast. It outpaces the drama that the original 103 has. More detail, yeah, but no loss in drama, please. Let's have some DRAMA!

Pat: I had Peter Lederman pot my 103R in an ebony body when he did the line contact retip (I opted for the $250 retip as opposed to the really extreme $350 retip).

Ultimately, I think, the different woods offer different presentations, and whether one has a stock 103 vs. a 103R may well result in a preference for a different wood body depending on, subjectively, what a listener wants and also whether their system is drifting toward being cool and lean or warm and full. In the end, the whole wood body/retip thing with the Denons is kind of like wine: very subjective.

As the 103R is purportedly (I actually have no experience with the stock 103) more extended and detailed than the stock 103, I think the ebony (or a wood that imparts a warmer balance-perhaps your cherry fits that character) may be the better choice for the 103R. I definitely found that with Ebony vs. Clavellin with the 103R. Clavellin may be the better choice with a stock 103, who knows?

With respect to the Soundsmith retip, the ruby cantilever is, as you say, pretty quick and the LC stylus digs out an incredible amount of information that the stock concical stylus simply misses.

IMO, with the 103R, the weightier presentation of the Ebony is a perfect match with the speed and detail retrieval of the ruby cantilever and LC stylus from Soundsmith.

But I track at 2.6 grams, which is exactly what I tracked at previously with the conical. Took me 2 months to figure it out as there are all kinds of zany reports from guys with Soundsmith Denons tracking at 1.5, 1.8 etc.

I found that even tracking at 2.45 grams resulted in a bit of a screwed up tonal balance with the Soundsmith LC retip. Tons of detail and speed, as you say, but etched and without the drama. Lower than that and you get lots of audiophile wannabe attributes: detail galore, air, speed. The problem is that the music, or, as you put it, the drama, is gone.

At 2.6 with the LC, all the power and drama is there, along with a lot more information, at least for me.