[lcrim]

Just a follow up on the wood bodies by UWE  http://www.oswaldsmillaudio.com/images/media/Bodies.pdf

[Jazz and Baroque]

Uwe will sell a wood body.  And I watched the video showing how to cut out the DL-103 motor with a scalpel.  (I kept waiting for him to slice open his thumb.  I guess he didn't keep that part in the video.)  But there is no chance I would try to cut apart a cartridge with a scalpel. 

Is there a  source for a complete product with a wood body??

Mike

[lcrim]

This particular thread started out about the mods available from Soundsmith to the Denon DL-103 family and it was pointed out that by "nuding" the cartridge and mounting it in a wood body, many feel that the sound is improved.
There are other cartridge manufacturers who offer wood body carts, many of them at stratospheric prices.  I personally can't justify that level of outlay but w/ a little DIY and  the UWE wood bodies performance levels are felt to be similar to the high priced Koetsu, Miyabi etc.  Clearadio, Benz Micro, Grado and others also manufacture wood body cartridges as certain woods have an attractive damping effect.  Do some online research and ask questions and you will find many attractive alternatives.

[xsb7244]

for those who are not surgeons you need somebody to take apart the plastic denon body.

[blakep]

I had serious misgivings about wooding my 103R. I ended up taking the cartridge to a dealer that I do business with and having them perform the operation. In the end, they graciously did not even charge me. For someone like this who is used to taking apart a cartridge to do repair work the whole operation is a breeze, particularly after viewing Thomas Schick's video. The whole thing (from removing the plastic body to installing the naked cartridge into the wood body) took less than 10 minutes. If you had to pay someone $50 to do it, it would be money worth spending.

The one thing I wouldn't tackle (and I wouldn't have anyone else tackle on my cartridge at least) is removing a small clear plastic "wrap" that seems to protect some of the cartridge internals and one end of the generator if I'm describing it correctly. Some have reported that removing this results in further performance enhancements but I just read at the vinyl asylum today of someone who lunched their cartridge  attempting to do this.

The actual removal of the body is a pretty simple procedure. After actually seeing it done "live", I might do the next one myself, just not while under the influence of alcohol or any mind altering substances  .

[denjo]

Performing "surgery" after a 15 minute video tutelage sounds like a scary proposition but the benefits I hear of a modded wood cart might just give me enough dutch courage to try it myself!!

 aa

[Rocket]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone tried the cheaper Soundsmith repair service that costs $150us for my denon dl103? 

Regards

Rod