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 doing AM and FM broadcast duties, and there is a lore that says the Denon DL-103 was designed to be an ideal match for the Garrard 301's musical and sonic character, and that '103' was '301' in reverse to symbolize that synergy.
Denon DL103 moving coil phono cartridge.
During the decades since the Denon DL-103's introduction, it has earned its place as a favorite moving coil phonograph cartridges in many a music lovers audio systems, and if anything, the Denon DL-103's popularity continues to grow.
The Denon DL-103 has won a lot of favor from vinyl enthusiasts such as Thomas Schick, Pete Riggle (Pete Riggle Audio Engineering), and well, by me.
My original Garrard 301 project turntable.
When I built up my first Garrard 301 turntable, many years ago now, what cartridge did I choose?
The silky smooth and detailed Denon DL-103 that was such a good match to my Garrard 301's musical nature!
Denon DL-103 making music on my Garrard Project 2015 turntable.
Now, years later, the Denon DL-103 still makes appearances on my hot-rodded Garrard Project 2015 turntable, to excellent effect.
My Garrard Project 2015 turntable.
The Denon DL-103 has been in production now for 55 years, and the design costs have long been recouped, and despite its pro-level performance, it is widely available at an affordable price.
In spite of the Denon DL-103's high-level of performance, enthusiasts have reported that by replacing the stock body of the DL-103, that they can take it to considerably higher levels of performance.
A small cottage industry has emerged with people selling replacement bodies for hot-rodding the Denon DL-103, made of various kinds of wood, aluminum, bronze, stone, and the like, and all reporting significant performance improvements from using a new and more substantial body on the Denon.
The idea of trying a new body on my Denon intrigues me, but I've not gotten around to it yet, and actually, doing surgery on my DL-103 to replace its body makes me a bit nervous from a damage standpoint.
For people like me, who are a bit anxious about doing the body replacement themselves, there are a number of vendors that sell Denon DL-103's with a new body pre-installed, to take the worry out of doing the body replacement modification.
Audio MusiKraft 'Tunable' Denon DL-103 Phono Cartridge
By far, I think the most sophisticated and interesting of the aftermarket high-performance replacement bodies, are those offered by Audio MusiKraft in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada.
Audio MusiKraft offers replacement body kits for the Denon DL-103 made out of aluminum, aluminum-lithium, or magnesium, and if you don't want to risk installing it yourself, Audio MusiKraft will do the body swap for you.
What I really like about the Audio MusiKraft replacement bodies is that they are 'tunable', so you can voice your Denon DL-103 to sound exactly the way you want it to, by inserting various wood inserts, and by adjusting micro tuning screws to adjust the voicing of the Denon DL-103 cartridge.
For example, AudioMusiKraft says, "Increasing pressure by tightening the set screws creates warmth, closeness to the instruments, refinement, more enveloping tonality, while decreasing pressure by loosening the screws makes the sound veer more toward an analytical and dynamic representation of the music."
I really am intrigued by Audio MusiKraft's approach, because you can not only replace the stock 'flexy-flyer' Denon plastic body with a more substantial precision body, but you can dial in the voicing to match your system's needs, and your own personal tastes, which I think is a great idea!
Also, if you tell Audio MusiKraft what your goals are, they can steer you in the right direction with body material and wood insert choices.
Well, it turns out that Guy Pelletier of Audio MusiKraft contacted me a little while back, to tell me about his approach to modifying the Denon DL-103, and to ask me if I'd like to try one of their hot-rodded Denon DL-103 cartridges for myself, and experience the power of being able to fine tune the cartridge to my system, and of course I said, "Yes!"
I still have a stock Denon DL-103 (the one you see in my photos above), and I suggested that it would be really interesting and fun if I compared his hot-rodded & tunable Denon DL-103 to my stocker and described the results to you.
Guy prepared a Denon DL-103 with one of his precision bodies, put some run-in time on it for me, and provided a set of tunable wood inserts for me to try.
I just got the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 in the mail from Guy, and in my next post about the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103, I'll go into the details of the version that Guy sent me.
Ok, that's it for now!
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
