Originally Posted by
montesquieu
The 1010 is a tonearm of respectable mass so with a good heavy headshell and possibly some extra weight on the counterweight (I have a ring that goes round mine provided by Angus) then you should get decent performance out of a DL-103R. They are always competent, but only shine where there is enough mass in the systen to get them digging in.
However, I always think using a paratrage on a 103 doesn't ultimately work, you get more detail, but less soul. (Though it does depend on the job that was done fitting the tup and how well it's set up). Anyway I had two done at Expert, a 103 and a 103R and both disappointed. So if you do have one retipped, I would say Fritz Geiger is probably the way to go. Though to be frank, if it were me I would leave well alone - it is what it is, a good honest, reliable cartridge, a great deal at its price point. The purchase price + retip money could be spent more wisely I would suggest.
I would suggest that there are better options - Shelter 501 and Ortofon Kontrapunkt/Cadenza line both provide soul and detail (I found Non-Smoking Man's Cadenza Blue really captivating on a visit to his some months back and I owned both a 501 and a Jubilee myself at one point). I use a vintage Ortofon SPU GE (eliptical) on my 1010, with Angus's extra ring again, and it sounds fantastic.
If you really are set on going for broke on detail you could look at a Lyra, I've had a few (Helicon, Dorian, Dorian Mono, Clavis, Argo II - the Argo being the best of them in my book). Not entirely to my taste any more (I take wholeness, harmonic richness, tone quality, front to back depth, over a cartridge with hyper-detail and pin-point L-R staging these days - hence my last 5 years or so with Audio Note Io2, assortied Miyajimas, and higher-end Ortofon SPUs, all variations on the vintage SPU theme) but they are something to experience for sure and some people rave about them. The 1010 without the extra counterweight should handle one no bother.