If you are concerned that you may not be "getting the most" out of the turntable you can always have the 103's stylus/cantilever replaced.
Soundsmith does a great job and offers different high performance stylus profiles that will perform up to the abilities of the deck.
The "Denon sound" is still there - just with more detail, dynamics and imaging.
I purchased a re tipped Denon 103 that had a ruby cantilever and Optimized Contour Contact Line stylus.
The improvements across the board were amazing. However, the conical stylus of the stock 103 is much more forgiving when it comes to pops, cracks, surface noise. Also, setup needs to be more precise
Take a look at.... http://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information
But as the other posters noted - the ZU 103 is very good cartridge.
I'd wait until it needs replacing
Soundsmith does a great job and offers different high performance stylus profiles that will perform up to the abilities of the deck.
The "Denon sound" is still there - just with more detail, dynamics and imaging.
I purchased a re tipped Denon 103 that had a ruby cantilever and Optimized Contour Contact Line stylus.
The improvements across the board were amazing. However, the conical stylus of the stock 103 is much more forgiving when it comes to pops, cracks, surface noise. Also, setup needs to be more precise
Take a look at.... http://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information
But as the other posters noted - the ZU 103 is very good cartridge.
I'd wait until it needs replacing