The Cap, Aluminum Body Cap for the Denon DL103 Review.

This is The Cap, an aluminum body cap that the body of the DL103 can slip into without any tools. The fit is a bit tight. Just smash the cart in it. Unfortunately the stylus cover of the DL103 will not fit after The Cap is installed, so be forewarned lest you rip the cantilever off with the sleeve of your shirt. (Oh, this happens. This is why I advise a special ritual* of donning the secret vinyl T-shirt before any use of the record player.)



First of all, I will say that I like the DL103. Audiophiles are weird and seem to be getting weirder as they age with some saying the DL103 is cult-like. Or maybe this is coming from Millenials who don't understand the DL103's history as a broadcast cartridge. I'm sure much of what I heard on the FM radio when I was a kid was played back on the DL103. The fact remains, the DL103 is a great moving coil cartridge. No, the conical needle tip ain't gonna bring up the small details (and surface noise) to the forefront like the line contact and ellipical tips. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with this. One rather famous designer of DACs prefers conicals. Not everything is about moar details, moar details - especially with vinyl which IMO is beyond detail.

I wanted to state the above because it's important for readers to understand that I appreciate and actually love the DL103 regardless of price (it's cheap for an MC). Audiophiles who can afford hyper detailed carts probably scratch their heads at why other audiophiles who can also afford similarly expensive things, like the DL103 and may actually have one in their cartridge collection. I've said this before: the DL103 is all one needs it nothing else can be had. Sure it's sound a certain kind of, but this presentation falls into the sphere of normal or correct, noting again that the DL103 was much used in broadcast. If you want moar hyperdetail and moar hyper transients, these are not the droids that you want.

Anyway, I'll get to the point. I did not get desirable results with the cap on either on my arms on my VPI classic 4. The two arms I have are VPI JMW-12" Metal (not the 3D printed nonsense) and the Ikeda IT-345 9". The Ikeda arm being heavy mass works fantastically with the Denon DL103 as is. The VPI arm is a medium mass arm. As such, the DL103 isn't ideal and what I've done in the past is add mass to the arm, for example secure weight on top of the headshell. The Cap had the same deleterious effect in both cases.

Most critically, The Cap choked off the DL103's expressiveness. Sure the cap put a lid on the DL103's bloom in the lows. But I'm not sure if this is desirable. The bloom for better or worse is part of the DL103's charm, but's give this the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up as a positive. However in damping the DL103, The Cap killed off one of the DL103's strengths, it's dynamics, both micro and macro. Furthermore, The Cap darkened an already somewhat dark sounding cart. These was practically no air. The Cap also eliminated that tiny bit of sharp edge of the DL103 that helped to keep things in balance. In the end, any benefit was far outweighed by the downsides.

In nutshell, the The Cap just didn't work for me. With the less ideal VPI arm, I got better results with the DL103 by adding weight to the headshell. The DL103 needs nothing done to it with the Ikeda arm. The DL103 is cheap and because of this will always be a modding platform. Personally I think the Denon engineers knew exactly what they were doing, especially at that time when audio companies had people with golden ears to actually listen to their products, giving feedback to the engineers. I'm sure there are circumstances and situations where The Cap can do wonders. But then again, why try to turn the DL103 into something it's not when one can simply get the MC cartridge that they wanted in the first place, say from Audio Technica. I know I'm running against the grain on the Internets, but at least I wanted to explain what The Cap did for me in a detailed relatable way as opposed to saying everything sounds awesome. Heck, The Cap is only $85, so give it try yourself!

By the way, there are accelerometer measurements of the effects of The Cap here: http://korfaudio.com/blog58
This just goes to the point that measurements aren't everything unless we can translate it into the human experience. To be honest, I wasn't convinced by these measurements and actually felt they could potentially make the DL103 sound worse.

*Look goobers, please stop talking about vinyl as being a ritual. People lived with records for 30 years. They flipped the fricking piece of vinyl after a side was done and put another record one after they finished the one they were listening to. Seriously, it's not a ritual and please don't make it into one like how today's Taiwanese housewives have made Kung-Fu / Old-Man style into a fricking ritual and ceremony when I simply just made tea for my grandfather by mashing tea into the small teapot and pouring water in.

 

^ Good points. I'm running a totally different table that's probably 50lbs placed on a granite slab that's probably another 50lbs on top of the VPI stand (whichi sadly is no longer available) partially filled with BBs, another 50lbs. I can tap on the headboard that the Ikeda sits on and barely hear anything from the speakers. I figure I can get away with the DL103s tubbiness which comes off more as bloom on this setup. The Cap did sound more midbassy, but the small 6" Fostex FE168NS in the Frugelhorn XLs which I'm currently running don't do the midbass thing as good as the big woofer speakers, I so prefer things flatter than I usually would.

Anyway, great discussion! When it comes to turntable stuff, I'm always frustrated because there's rarely good discussion on the finer points, explanations of specifics, to allow others to calibrate to their systems and ears. Most of the time, it's X > Y with no explantion, which is unhelpful to anyone.

P.S. Try different loading if you can. I'm loading the DL103 with 250-ohms.

 

TBH, I won't bother. I'm perfectly happy, amazingly happy with the DL103 on the Ikeda arm, enough to be willing to hold off the next purchase on my roadmap for a while: an SPU or a Miyajima Zero (mono). I know how the wood bodies will sound and this will just end up as something different (or possibly worse). I move slow when I'm happy. I mean, how long have I had the Classic 4 and until only recently filled in the second arm slot? (I'll do a writeup on the Ikeda later).

I'd rather get a dedicated wood bodied super detailed cart for the 12" VPI arm instead of trying to hammer the DL103 into one. I see the DL103 paired with the bold sounding Ikede arm as a single unit that is complementary to the VPI 12" arm's more flowly presentation - one where those "moar detail" carts is best suited.

 

The VPN 12" metal arm I'm using is considered medium mass. The Ikeda IT-345 is heavy mass arm that works well with low compliance carts like the DL103, SPU, Shelter 501, etc. No idea on Ittok, but pretty sure it's medium mass based my recollection of the carts used on a friend's LP12/Ittok. Even if you got it work (weights, tweaks), I'm not sure I would pair the DL103 with the LP12.

 

This bests any Funko collection.

 

Doubt it's that short if it was used in AM/FM broadcast. People retip and change cantilevers on the DL103 because the cart has as good motor (considering how everything else is technically not as "moar" better) and it's dirt cheap for an MC.