Denon 103r ????

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No going back now.

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load the cart @ 14ohms.

Otherwise Hdm has covered all the bases. That was just long enough! ;-)

You're not going to get that shimmer. The soft top end where you hear it but it is not reaching is what it is.

Now it becomes the case where cymbols have more weight, have the right splash and metal tone, but do not extend and shimmer. It never sounds wrong to me but I do know that with better damping etc that the topend clarifies and extends but 'shimmer' has not become part of the equation.

One thing he hasn't tried, Slipknot1, is to change the loading. I mentioned this in an earlier post but since Raul had some comments, well, I went with the flow.

There is no MagicDiamond vs 103; no contention at all. They are both the same.

Otherwise I agree that the 103 has some run-in time required to open up and show it's colors.

Really, a small trick would be to add some duct tape to the side of the body of the 103. Someone gave me this tip a while back, it is reverseable, and is revealing on several levels.

A member on the Vinyl Asylum has asked for someone to send him a modded 103 for comparison with his MagicDiamond and I have sent him an email saying that I will be happy to accommodate.

He posted a picture of the back of the MagicDiamond that looks no different from a normal unmodded 103 so not works has been done back there.

Well, I do think the MagicDiamond is in fact a modded 103 but we shall here what an owner of said cartridge thinks of the two. My modded cartridge has the Uwe wood body so I am betting it will outdo his.

I think an owner of a 103 whether it is called a ZU or a MagicDiamond or Clearaudio Talisman, needds to use the right arm and load the cart correctly. That means:

16+ grams effective weight up to 30grams
active stage 100ohms
transformer 103 = 40ohms, 103r = 14ohms.

If you have the MagicDiamond or the Talisman you body worries are teaken care of. Stock, you need to remove that ringing plastic body - or at the very least put some duct tape on the outside of the 103s body.

Re Storyboy's post:

The 103 has been called the best moving coil moving magnet cartrdige that a certain someone has heard. The midrange is nicely populated with the addition of very linear but sweet detail and incredible presence.

I have what some think is a top tier old shcool MM cartridge, the Picketing TLS-2S and it is very nice. But the 103 is more detailed [not analytical], more extended, tighter more defined bass, but I guess that the the MM adds it's own sweetness to vocals and rock and roll which diverges from linear but is tasty so maybe I will toss that over to the Pickering.

Point is, that I and even Raul, because he uses a modded 103 called the MagicDiamond, do in fact recommend it highly. Raul just likes his better because it costs more. ;-)

The 103 in it's stock form is a target for critique, but modded it is another animal.

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"Ok, So now what do I do????"

1. keep the cartridge and make it work
2. put duct tape on the body of the cart
3. get a CineMag transformer; wire it for 37.5 + 105 ohms
4. put a 14ohm resistor across the priamry of 150ohm and run the R thru that.
5. add mass to the arm
5. finally get a Uwe wood body and put the cart in it
6. enjoy it for a while then get a Soundsmith fine line retip

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yeah.
I have the wood body on my 103 and plan to use the brass place anumber1 sells for the R.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eomaille/anumber1/brass.html

I think I will fasten a small, 2mm, piece of wood to the brass to change the tone a bit.

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Yes you can and i used super glue. the thing I learned about super glue is that it has a strong bond if you try to pull 'away' but if you twist, that is where super glue will let go.

Scarey though. I put a drop of super glue and ran that for a while. I had to set the plate down, hold the back of the cartridge and just exert pressure and it freed. I had to push though.