TIME to break in a Denon 103R

My 103R was "steely" as Dan described, a bit "tight" and aggressive, although still very impressive, right out of the box. I noticed a major improvement at between 10 and 15 hours, almost like a light had been switched on. It became considerably more "relaxed" at that point and really got the ebb and flow of the music more. From there, I would say improvements were much more subtle. I would agree with Dan also that at around 50 hours give or take you should be fully broken in.

Psychic et al:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=vinyl&n=549172&highlight=conical+spherical+thorsten&r=&session=

The Denon is no more likely to cause wear than any other cartridge properly aligned. Given equal improper alignment, other stylus profiles are more likely to do much greater damage.