I agree with Franks. I own a Schick tonearm, and I think that the DL-103R is very good with these caveats:
1- Lose the outer plastic shell. A nuded 103x is much better than the stock version, and in fact I actually prefer a nude version mounted on an ebony headshell to most wood body options.
2- Wood body - can be OK or can be great, depending on which body and how well the mounting job was done. For me, I find better results where the cartridge *is not* potted.
3- I am not crazy about using aluminum cartridge bodies on this arm - just my preference. YMMV
4- A new Ruby cantelever retip by Peter at Soundsmith will completely change your opinion of the "lowly" DL-103 cartridge.
5- Finally, your choice of headshell will make a huge difference with this combination of cartridge and tonearm. I prefer the Yamamoto Ebony but Sumiko or Micro will do in a pinch.
I also enjoy the Ortofon SPU line with this tonearm; especially for classic mono recordings. I have also had good sussess with selected Benz and Lyra models.
1- Lose the outer plastic shell. A nuded 103x is much better than the stock version, and in fact I actually prefer a nude version mounted on an ebony headshell to most wood body options.
2- Wood body - can be OK or can be great, depending on which body and how well the mounting job was done. For me, I find better results where the cartridge *is not* potted.
3- I am not crazy about using aluminum cartridge bodies on this arm - just my preference. YMMV
4- A new Ruby cantelever retip by Peter at Soundsmith will completely change your opinion of the "lowly" DL-103 cartridge.
5- Finally, your choice of headshell will make a huge difference with this combination of cartridge and tonearm. I prefer the Yamamoto Ebony but Sumiko or Micro will do in a pinch.
I also enjoy the Ortofon SPU line with this tonearm; especially for classic mono recordings. I have also had good sussess with selected Benz and Lyra models.