Denon DL-103R cartridge update

I went to a Benz Wood SL and haven't looked back. It is much quieter in the grove and more neutral / natural. I always felt the denon was putting emphasis on the lower to mid frequencies and was rather etched at the higher frequencies.

Chuck

I went back and forth for a while between a 103R and a Benz L2 Woodbody. They both have some very favorable qualities. Despite the price difference, the Denon can hold its own in a lot of respects. I then moved on to a Benz LP.

I think in general that the Benz line has some of the positive things you like about the 103R while offering more refinement.

Upgrade the body on your 103R (to ebony or aluminum) taking into consideration that you will need to be able to balance out a 12-15 gram weight cartridge. Then send it off to Soundsmith for a ruby cantilever and line contact stylus.

You won't need to upgrade after that unless you want to upgrade your table or phono stage.

I have 6 Denon 103/103R cartridges total(one 103 and one 103R SoundSmith retip). Before that, I had Koetsu Rosewood, Shelter 501, Shelter 901, Benz Glider, Benz ACE(still have this one) as my "test" field. I tried several iterations: wood-body, nude, nude with isolator plate, on both Aluminum and Ruby cantilever.

With the stock 103/103R, except for the SoundSmith retip 103's, there was no question in my mind, they don't compare to the other expensive cartridges mentioned. The retip is definitely an improvement, but depends on the arm being use at the VTF decreases when using Ruby cantilever.

With the wood body SS retip or not, I found what I was looking for. Sold the other carts I had except for the Benz ACE, and of course the Denon's.