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Another review of a tweaked Denon DL-103R ??? Oh no! Boring? Surely not! Please read it!

*First of all: I'm not affiliated with ANY of Companies mentioned in this post. Above all, I'm an enthusiast of state of the art audio analog components...*

This is my second post on Audiogon Forum and I would like to share with you, fellow audiophiles, my thoughs about a GREAT tweaked Denon DL-103R Cartridge: The "Paradox Pulse Guard R SMR Cartridge"

Being a Senior Electronic / Acoustic Engineer and worked with many Audio Companies in Germany and Japan, this led me to listen to all kind of analog components, from turntables to tonearms and cartridges since the 70's... the golden years of the analog sound!

Thanks to Siemens AG (in Germany) and Matsushita Electric (known as Panasonic) (in Japan), that I have worked for many years, I have had the opportunity to experienced all sorts of hi-end Cartridges, tonearms and turntables... for audiophile and professional purposes and although many components led me to great satisfaction, only a few them passed to my restricted test of building quality.

For tonearms, Fidelity Research (FR-66 and it's variants, made in Japan) and our own Technics EPA-100 showed perfect bearings... and Cartridges (EMT, made in Germany) among very few others that have the most perfect cantilever/stylus alignment.

For my surprise and great enjoyment, I ordered a modified Denon DL-103R (The Denon DL-103R is a venerable Cartridge in production for many years with a strict quality control), called Paradox Pulse Guard R SMR Cartridge, (from Terence Robinson), that has been tweaked to perfection.... (please go to www.paradoxpulse.com for more details).

After removal of the original resonant plastic body, Terence mount the motor in an special aluminum body, including about 40 micro lead dampers and then finally fill all the gaps with a kind of epoxy to kill all resonances. After this, Terence do the "break in" process (for the wire and suspension of the brand new, selected DL-103R for matched channels) for about 100 hours. After that, he send the wholly cartridge to change the original aluminum cantilever/conical stylus for a Saphire cantilever/MicroRidge stylus. This is done by Andy Kim at www.phonocartridgeretipping.com

After years of triyng expensive Cartridges like Phasemation / Phase Tech (great cartridges!), Ikeda and many others, I mounted the Paradox Pulse Guard R SMR cartridge in the (very rigid) Ikeda IS-2T headshell in conjunction with the (also very rigid) Sorane SA-1.2 high mass tonearm and the results? OUSTANDING!

I NEVER heard piano notes with such lifelike realism! Vocals have palpable presence and the soundstage and depth above any criticism. The exceptionally perfect Saphire cantilever / MicroRidge stylus (made by Namiki, Japan) alignment (Thanks Andy and Terence, for your state of the art job) are so perfect that I ever seen only with such perfection on my EMT TSD15 (and a very few others), but the Paradox Pulse takes the sound reprodution to another level of refinement. Air between massed vocals and bass notes are to die for...This is the cartridge that satisfy me at a reasonable price, without breaking the bank!

This is Heaven & I'd die for it! The Paradox Pulse Guard R SMR Cartridge installed in the Sorane tonearm, Ikeda Headshell, through the fabulous Hashimoto HM-7 Step Up transformers, with a reflective load of 512 Ohms, took my System in another level of realism and satisfaction.

Would you like to share with me, fellow Audiogon members, your impressions and thoughs about your phono system?
  
Cheers!,
Jose.


ultima700
edgewear
543 posts
 
The general opinion appears to be that the Denon DL103 ’motor’ is good enough to use as a foundation for cartridges with ’higher aspirations’. Its basic performance is held back by an old fashioned aluminum cantilever / conical stylus arrangement and basic plastic body. Replace those and you supposedly step into another league.

I’ve never heard any of these ’redesigns’ so I can’t comment. But I do know that the ’as is’ factory version of the 103 sounds pretty awful, not unlike the basic version of the Ortofon SPU. Both are ancient designs with very limited performance. I do have experience with some of the higher level SPUs (Reference Gold and the A85, A90 and A95 Anniversary models), which are ’night and day’ different from the old ’Classic’ SPU with conical tip. I don’t have an interest myself, but I assume the same ’trick’ can be done with the basic 103.

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
The cartridge being touted here has a Micro Ridge stylus shape.


@lewm  My comment about Miyajima was addressed to @rdk777 who's using Zu Audio Denon cartridge with original conical tip. 


lewm
12,432 posts
 
After the fact, I realized your post could be taken to be a comment on the Zu version.  Sorry.
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
723 posts
 
Raul speaks the truth.

The problem with many DL103 and 103R rebuilds is that they frequently throw the baby out with the bath water. Whenever you change a design with something as dramatic as a cantilever and stylus replacement, you run the risk of upsetting the balance.

This should come at no surprise. As a result, the ideal rebuild is as much due to serendipity as it is to quality of workmanship and parts.

For example, I’d recommend Soundsmith for a ZYX, Benz, Ortofon or Dynavector rebuild. I’d hesitate to recommend them for some other brands, only because the cartridge’s character would change too much. This is true of every quality rebuilder, and Soundsmith absolutely qualifies as such.

One of my very picky customers reports outstanding results with his Andy Kim DL103R rebuild.

I have much respect for both the DL103 and the 103R - especially at their price point. In standard form, they have a very balanced presentation, with a slightly truncated treble (missing a bit of delicacy and nuance) and are a bit noisy in the groove when compared with a much more ambitious stylus profile.

I recently re-visited my 103R and blogged about it over here: https://galibierdesign.com/jelco-and-denon/

As I mention in the above blog post, it’s incumbent on you to treat any cartridge as if it were a top tier one. Don’t take shortcuts when setting it up. Confirmation bias tends to result in people giving less attention to the setup of a $400 cartridge than to a $4K one.

... Thom @ Galibier Design

Dear @ultima700 : No surprise with the venerable 103 ( I own it. ) that through several years now it was taked to be marketed under other " names ".

The more famous an expensive cartridge with 103 motor is this one that L.Walker him self promoted along its great and expensive TT Walker Proscinium:

https://audiofederation.com/dealership/prices/magic-diamond/index.htm

Yes, outperforms many today cartridges over 4K. I listened mounted in that Walker TT through a ffirst rate room/system.

Thank’s to share your experiences with.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

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