In the last six decades I haven't broken a single phonograph cartridge, but in the last two weeks I've broken two, and the crazy thing about it is I don't even know how I did it in either case. The first cartridge fatality was the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge Guy Pelletier sent me. I... Read More »

I'm working hard on my review of the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 for Positive Feedback, and I thought you would enjoy a preview. ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ The “Tunable” Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 Phonograph Cartridge Audio MusiKraft was founded by Guy Pelletier in 2016 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada, and consists of “a small core of experienced craftsmen and devoted music... Read More »

In my “sixth tune” report on the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge I reported to you my adventure with the oil treated Jatoba tonewood inserts (above). I've mentioned before what a dramatic difference a complementary set of headshell leads makes to the overall voicing and performance of a cartridge, which can easily be as great... Read More »

In my "fifth tune" report on the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge I reported to you my experiences with the lime tonewood inserts treated with beeswax & lemon oil (above). In this "sixth tune" report I want to tell you about my experiences with Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge using the oiled Jatoba tonewood... Read More »

In my last report on the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge I did a photographic strip-tease of the Denon DL-103 as I dismantled it from its aluminum Audio MusiKraft shell with maple tonewood inserts ... ... and then reassembled it in its Audio MusiKraft aluminum shell with oiled black walnut tonewood inserts installed. In my... Read More »

When I left you in the "Third Tune" post, I had settled in on the maple "tonewood" inserts as having the tonality that was the most complementary to my main music listening system (below). The maple set of tuning inserts was the first of the four sets of tonewood tuning inserts that I thought portrayed... Read More »

It's been a lot of fun exploring the tunable Audio MusiKraft Denon D-103 phonograph cartridge of Guy Pelletier. Guy sent me the entry level aluminum cartridge shell version ($579 USD) of the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 to try, which has the look & feel of a beautifully crafted precision instrument. In my first listen to... Read More »

I've been enjoying listening to and experimenting with the voicing of Guy Pelletier's "tunable" Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge on my restored and "hot-rodded" vintage Thorens TD-124. As is my custom, I like to blog about my "getting acquainted" stage with new audio products, offering first impressions about the quality, ease of use, sonic... Read More »

Sometimes the best laid plans just don't pan out the way you think they will. Last weekend I had fully intended to do a little experimenting with the micro-tuning screws of the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge. Between the need to tear down turntables, get them put back together and adjusted, as well as... Read More »

In my blog post about the Audio MusiKraft tunable Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge last weekend, I described its performance in comparison to my stock Denon DL-103 on my vintage Thorens TD-124, that was restored and hot-rodded by Christopher Thornton at Artisan Fidelity. I listened to the two Denon's with identical Audio-Technica AT-HS1 headshells and identical sets... Read More »

I've really been looking forward to listening to and experimenting with the voicing of the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 tunable phonograph cartridge from Guy Pelletier. The idea behind the Audio MusiKraft tunable Denon DL-103 is that it offers a Denon DL-103 enthusiast, like myself, the potential of an almost unlimited amount of voicing options through... Read More »

It's been quite a while since I've given my Denon DL-103 MC phonograph cartridge a good listen, so I thought I'd get the Denon out, mount it up, and play some music. The arrival of the hot-rodded Denon DL-103 from Audio MusiKraft, which I've been listening to for a while now, got me to thinking... Read More »

I've been looking forward to giving the Audio MusiKraft hot-rodded and tunable Denon DL-103 a listen, and comparing it to my stock Denon DL-103, a trusted friend of many years. I think the idea of a tunable phono cartridge is brilliant, and I applaud Guy Pelletier, the owner / propriétaire of Audio MusiKraft, for bringing to... Read More »

I've been looking forward to the arrival of the Audiosilente cartridge clips so I can build a couple of sets of Duelund DCA26GA headshell leads with them. One I get the new headshell leads built - I'm hoping to find time over the weekend - then I'll be able to give the stock Denon DL-103... Read More »

I have been looking forward to getting some Audiosilente cartridge clips I ordered, as I want to build two identical sets of DCA26GA headshell leads with them. That way I can use them in two identical headshells, one mounted with my stock Denon DL-103 phono cartridge (above), and the other with the exotic Audio Musikraft... Read More »

It sure was nice getting together with Andy, Pete, and Ron, last weekend to listen to music, talk about hifi, and just have a fun ol' time! I could use a little more musical & audio fellowship in my life! Alas, it's been particularly busy of late, both on the day job, and in my... Read More »

Back when Yazaki-san sent me a set of headshell leads made of vintage Western Electric WE24GA wire to try, it came as a bit of a surprise to me that headshell leads made such a substantial contribution to overall musical & sonic performance. The difference in sound & musicality between the stock & WE24GA headshell... Read More »

The Denon DL-103 moving coil (MC) phonograph cartridge was designed way back in 1962, as a collaboration between Denon and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, as a high performance cartridge for professional broadcast use, and it has been in continuous production since then. Back in those days there were a lot of Garrard 301 transcription turntables... Read More »

I've mentioned before that I get pretty excited whenever I hear from Yoshi-san & Elia-san (father & son) of the MuSon Project in Osaka, Japan, who export Japanese audio exotica to The World, because it means that something exciting is about to happen audio-wise! Yoshi-san told me that he had a new phonograph cartridge that he... Read More »