I also agree that the 304 is a bit "sanitized" compared to the other stars of the Denon lineup. If most of what you listen to is classical or small group acoustic music, it might, however, be just the thing for you. The thing is, the price is just close enough to the DL-S1 here in the States that it only makes sense to jump to the top of the line S1. I'm not sure what the price disparity might be in the U.K. The Zu Denon I have addresses some of the issues inherent in the stock 103, but that could be also be done with an aftermarket aluminum or heavy wood body and potting the internals after setting the cartridge into the new case. I can vouch for the aluminum body and stylus guard sold on Audiogon by "daiwok", who also posts on lencoheaven.net; it's a quality aftermarket modification.

Marco, I see that you run an amp with KT120 tubes - do you find them to be a worthy successor to the various KT88s? My current amp can accept them with a bit of bias adjustment, but the transformers aren't stout enough to safely provide the full current that the 120s can put out - I just don't know if being unable to fully exploit the tube's potential would be worth the outlay over the KT88s I'm currently running.