FS: Refurbished Denon DL-103 GL
Purchased from another member at Pinkfish in March 2018 as a somewhat spontaneous first dip into moving coil carts. I understand this was originally bought by him from Ebay seller Sahkha in 2017 with listing title; “Denon DL103GL Limited 2000 units. Carbon fibre body and gold coils, modified with lead shot for additional damping. New cantilever and shibata diamond.” Bronze shim/spacer added by him for extra mass.
Sold to me with I understand approximately 50-60 hours use. Used by me on my WTA GT. Perhaps 50-60 hours use in my possession until I changed to a DVXX2 Mk2 in December 2018. Combined weight of DL103GL and shim is approximately 17g so I needed an after-market heavier counterweight to use in the WTA arm. I cleaned the tip with Clearaudio Diamond Cleaner after each listening session. I contacted the Ebay seller for advice on tracking force, and he responded that 1.8gm should be about right.
I have very much enjoyed the DL-103GL but knew it would perhaps be sub-optimal in the WTA. I understand that the DL103 is best suited to high/medium mass tonearms. I was also aware that Dynavector cartridges were reputably “best” for the WTA so when a used DVXX2 Mk 2 subsequently came up at a good price I took the plunge. All things considered the DV seems “just right” so the DL now needs to find a new home. There is plenty of information and opinion on the DL103 range online and on this forum.
Quoting the seller on this cartridge;
“It sounds sublime and tracks solidly with no end of side distortion and high frequency nasties that the conical stylus suffers from. The detail retrieval is brilliant, with no loss of the lovely midrange.”
Quoting Marco from a DL103 thread that I chipped into following this purchase;
“The GL is one of the best 103’s ever made, featuring coils constructed from 4N high-purity gold wire, similar to what’s used in the DL-S1. It’s a rather special cartridge and combines some of the best features of the 103SA and DL-S1. You will struggle to better that cartridge in the areas it excels in, no matter how much you spend.”
Comes in DL-103LC packaging with stylus guard but no paperwork. The Bronze shim is threaded and hex bolts provided securing to the plastic packaging mount. The bronze shim can be removed with a scalpel or Stanley blade. If the shim is removed nuts will be needed for headshell mounting, which I can provide. Photos below (I hope!).
Asking £300 delivered to a UK address via RMSD.
(img)IMG_4702 by Anthony Pugh, on Flickr(/img)
(img)IMG_4703 by Anthony Pugh, on Flickr(/img)
Reply With Quote