My slow descent into retro MC madness...

Unfortunately nobody is around to educate audiophile consumers about the very necessary matching one has to undertake to achieve optimal results with analog and particularly low output MC cartridges these days. The good news is that there is a lot of helpful info on the web related to vinyl particularly at sites such as the vinyl asylum at www.audioasylum.com To me, that is where the quality information relating to vinyl playback is, although you may have to wade through a bunch of info that is not true high quality.

Sorry for your experience, but, yes, the Zu at 14 grams is a beast to balance out on many modern day tonearms. I'm also not sure that a step up is the sure way to go as the stepup has to be matched very carefully and involves another set of interconnects.

After lots and lots of research and info searching, as well as acquiring a 103R before the most recent (ie. past 5-6 months) hype, I've settled in with a 103R mounted in a custom ebony body sold by a vinyl asylum inmate for $100. So total cost on the 103R in the ebony body is $370, $30 less than the Zu 103 and the ebony body is reusable. There are various wood bodies available to match up with different tonearms and their weight balancing capabilities. I haven't heard the Zu 103 but I am far from convinced that it would sound better than what I'm using which offers a lot more flexibility into the future.

The 103R, though, is even more difficult to work with in the loading department, preferring, by most accounts, to be loaded into the 40 ohm area, but I don't have to worry about that as I use an Aqvox phono stage which essentially takes loading right out of the equation with any MC cartridge by doing it automatically. I'm very happy with what I have now in the analog department, although I am considering an arm upgrade, but this will take into account my use of the wood bodied Denon as I see no need to go higher up in the food chain in the cartridge department.

But everything counts in table/arm/cartridge/phono stage matching: effective mass, ability to balance, compliance, load, etc. etc. and you better do your homework if you want to enter into this area and make things work. The great thing is the info is out there and when you do make it work the sound quality you are rewarded with is astounding.

Morgenholz: If you are going to a multiarm setup and are considering another 103 or 103R, here is some food for thought (and relatively economical, at that) with respect to the 103/103R:

http://www.thomas-schick.com/Denon103.htm

The wood bodies can be purchased for $110 from an inmate at the vinyl asylum named Uwe who resides in Belgium.

The other consideration, although it is a bastardization of the "purist" point of view with the spherical stylus, is a retip of the Denons by Soundsmith using a ruby cantilever and line contact stylus at $250. There are a number of users who have reported this vaults the Denon performance even higher, as the wood body or nuding the cartridge does, but I do not know of anyone at this stage that has combined both the Soundsmith re-tip and the wood bodies.

The combination is something that may prove to be fabulous and I'm toying with the idea myself at this time, but must admit I'm leaning simply toward popping a new 103R into my ebony body when it nears the end of its lifespan later in '08 and possibly sending the older unit off for a re-tip at some point in time in the future. I'd then have both depending on preference and there are those, as you are probably aware, who do make a strong case in favor of the Denon's spherical stylus profile.

Good luck!