Overview of the Classic Denon DL-103 Moving Coil Phonograph Cartridge
Before I delve into listening impressions, I thought it would be useful to provide a brief overview of the classic Denon DL-103 phonograph cartridge to set the stage.
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 Technical Research Laboratories, as a high-performance cartridge with high reliability intended for professional broadcast use, and it has been in continuous production since then.
During the decades since the Denon DL-103's introduction, it has also earned its place as a favorite moving coil phonograph cartridge in many a music lover's audio system, and if anything, the Denon DL-103 is more popular now than it has ever been.
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, from me, for example.
The Denon DL-103 has been in production now for 55 years, and the design costs have been recouped long ago.
Despite its pro-level performance, the Denon DL-103 is widely available at a very affordable price-point, which I consider to be Denon's thoughtful gift to music lovers everywhere.
For maximum performance, the Denon DL-103's owner's manual recommends adjusting the position of the stylus to the specified overhang dimension for a given tonearm, aligning the cartridge accurately within the headshell, adjusting tonearm height so that the cartridge is parallel to the surface of the record, to make sure that the cartridge's azimuth is correctly adjusted, and to adjust the stylus pressure to 2.5 +/- 0.3 grams, or in other words, going through a normal cartridge setup routine.
Use & Listening Impressions
When I first received the package containing the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 from Guy I unpacked it, and carefully examined the contents of the "kit" and its quality.
The Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 cartridge kit came nicely packaged with the cartridge mounted securely in a protective case, and with all the tools & hardware needed to mount, adjust, and fine-tune the cartridge's performance.
In the above photo you can see the protective case, the screwdriver for assembling/disassembling the cartridge shell when installing/removing the tonewood tuning inserts, a micro hex wrench for adjusting the cartridge shell's tuning screws, the Audio MusiKraft cartridge shell with the Denon DL-103 installed into it, and a card containing the contact information for Audio MusiKraft.
The cartridge shell is beautifully CNC machined, and is a rather complex & intricate work of machining art. Given the obvious quality, intricate machining, and superb finish I find it rather remarkable that Guy can offer this high-tech cartridge shell at such an affordable price.
Guy implements continuous improvements to the Audio MusiKraft cartridge shells, and says the finish is now even nicer—even rivaling the finish of exotic Swiss watches—than what I thought was a very nice finish on the reviewed cartridge shell that you see in the photographs.
Below you can see the sets of tonewood tuning inserts Guy sent for me to try (black walnut, lime, maple, and Jatoba), along with some natural conditioning oil for the wood, a tonewood tuning insert removal tool, and some additional mounting hardware.
The tonewood inserts are as finely machined as the cartridge shell. If you look closely at the accompanying photo you can see three tonewood inserts in each plastic bag, one larger tonewood insert for the top receptacle of the cartridge shell, and two smaller tonewood inserts for each side receptacle of the cartridge shell.
For this review, I used two identical Audio-Technica AT-HS1 headshells, and constructed two identical sets of Art of Tone 22GA headshell leads with Audiosilente cartridge clips, so I could do apple-to-apple comparisons of the stock Denon DL-103 to the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103.
As I mentioned earlier, the Denon DL-103's output of 0.3mV means that it has to be stepped-up by a factor of ten to put it into the right range for my MX110Z's phono input sensitivity of 3.0mV, which I accomplished by means of my Auditorium 23 SUT designed for the Denon DL-103.
Comparison of a Stock Denon DL-103 to the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103
Guy Pelletier recommended that I start my listening by comparing my stock Denon DL-103 to the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103, without engaging any of its tuning screws, and without any of the tonewood inserts installed into its CNC'd chassis.
I've always liked the Denon DL-103, and for good reason, as it's got a great balance of musicality & sonics at an extremely friendly price point for its rather lofty level of performance.
The stock Denon DL-103 sounded just like you would expect it to, being musically vivid and compelling, with lots of natural detail articulation.
When listening to my 1995 Analogue Productions test pressing of Doc and Merle Watson's Pickin' the Blues with the stock Denon DL-103, I liked the way it brought Merle's slide guitar to life, with lots of interesting overtones present, a nice rosiny fiddle tone, an articulate sense of "touch" to Doc's guitar playing, and an overall exciting presentation to music.
It's pretty obvious switching back and forth between the stock Denon DL-103 and the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103, that the Audio MusiKraft's aluminum cartridge shell puts it in a different league musically & sonically from the stock Denon's plastic cartridge shell.
Doc's vocals were more present and dynamic, in fact the presence of all the musicians in the room increased considerably, and there was a much greater sense of space, depth, and layering to soundstage.
There was also more nuance and detail present, and a better articulation of the musicians playing their instruments.
The tonal balance of the instruments sounded more natural top-to-bottom, and in particular the tonal balance in the high-frequencies was far superior with the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103, and Pickin' The Blues was presented as much more musically natural and realistic.
The high-frequencies of my stock Denon DL-103 sounded somewhat distorted in comparison to the smoothly detailed and natural presentation of the Audio MusiKraft on Pickin' The Blues.
The Audio MusiKraft aluminum cartridge shell gave more even response from the low to high-frequencies, with a richer and more realistic presentation of bass lines.
Images had more body with a greater sense of space around them, and the whole of the string tone was represented rather than just the leading edge of the treble, which gave the music a more organic and realistic feel.
The stock Denon DL-103 weighs 8.5 grams, and the weight of the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 is 11.38 grams. The extra mass and rigidity of the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 aluminum cartridge shell is immediately audible, and it improves upon the musicality & sonics of my stock Denon DL-103 with its plastic cartridge shell rather dramatically.
The stock Denon DL-103 emphasizes the higher frequencies more, is more forward, and has a leaner tonal balance, than does the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103.
The stock Denon DL-103 also has an excellent portrayal of tempos, rhythm, melody, and beat that makes it exciting and fun to listen to, making the music sound lively and energetic, but the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 improves upon portraying the fabric of the music, with all those attributes sounding even more "real".
Listening to the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 with its CNC'd aluminum cartridge shell replacing the stock Denon's plastic cartridge was revelatory, and those attributes that I thought were endemic to the DL-103's design—a somewhat tipped-up top-end and slightly emasculated bass response—disappeared with the aluminum cartridge shell of the Audio MusiKraft equipped Denon DL-103.
It was pretty much a no contest situation, with the Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 being better in every way musically & sonically than the stock Denon DL-103. That's quite a compliment actually, as the stock Denon DL-103 is a very fine phonograph cartridge that I like quite a lot.
The Audio MusiKraft Denon DL-103 makes this album of wonderful music sound that way, wonderful, with beautiful tone color, a natural overall tonal balance, a realistic timbral signature, as well as really highlighting Doc's and Merle's technique as they played.
Even without utilizing its tunability features, the Audio MusiKraft cartridge shell provides a rather dramatic improvement in performance both musically & sonically to the Denon DL-103, and it should be on the short list for everyone who owns one.
