Making of the Denon DL-103 cartridge

[Eppie]

Jana is back on Youtube creating more beautifully produced videos. (You may be familiar with her work from Darko.) She visited the Denon factory in Shirakawa, Japan, where they produce the Denon DL-103 moving coil cartridge. These are produced by hand and she goes into quite a bit of detail. It takes 4 days to produce a batch of cartridges and I expected them to be very expensive but a quick search revealed pricing around $350 USD ($480 Cdn) which is comparable to similar offerings. Grab a favorite beverage and get set to chill for 15 minutes...

 

[Mikado463]

The cartridge continues to be well regarded after all these years. I believe it to be the longest continuously produced audio component in our hobby ?

Thanks for posting the vid Eppie !

 

[highfigh]

The cartridge continues to be well regarded after all these years. I believe it to be the longest continuously produced audio component in our hobby ?

Thanks for posting the vid Eppie !

I watched that last night- ineresting that they make them in batches of 15 pieces.

According to Wiki, "The DL103 was designed for professional broadcast use in 1962 using the arms and turntables of the day. Production has continued uninterrupted since then. There are available different versions upgraded by other companies or individuals involved in DIY audio."

I have a 103d, which I got in a trade in about 1981- it's great, but the low output makes it a bit difficult to find a suitable MC phono preamp, at times.

 

[TLS Guy]

I watched that last night- ineresting that they make them in batches of 15 pieces.

According to Wiki, "The DL103 was designed for professional broadcast use in 1962 using the arms and turntables of the day. Production has continued uninterrupted since then. There are available different versions upgraded by other companies or individuals involved in DIY audio."

I have a 103d, which I got in a trade in about 1981- it's great, but the low output makes it a bit difficult to find a suitable MC phono preamp, at times.

In that case I would use a transformer and connect to a standard RIAA MM input. That is often, if not always the best way to go.