More woody goodness: exotic wood bodies for the Denon DL-103

Posted on November 15th, 2007 by admin

I’m an enthusiastic proponent of the venerable Denon DL-103 phono cartridge. In production for more than 40 years, it remains a faithful transducer, well-designed, robust, and boasting a flat frequency response and excellent real-world performance. At $200 this cartridge is a no-brainer for anyone with a MC phono stage. If your phono section is low-gain (MM), consider the Lundahl LL9206 step-up transformers from K&K Audio. This adds $150 and gives you a killer MC setup. I use this setup with the Hagerman ‘Bugle’ MM battery phono stage.

Lately I’ve been reading about Uwe, a German fellow who crafts and sells wood bodies to replace the Denon’s plastic shell. He also sells ‘finished’ DL-103R’s in wood bodies. Below are examples of his Rosewood and Ebony bodied DL-103R’s. You can find them on eBay under seller name fivre.

I have some fine Nazareno wood (Purple Heart) that I bought in Costa Rica more than five years ago, I plan to attempt a ‘Uwe clone’ wood body and will report back on the results.

UPDATE: I was browsing Herbie’s Audio (known for their tube dampers) and noticed they have the Gabon Ebony Domes on closeout for $3.65 each…I ordered 3 of them. These look like they could be a good starting point for my Uwe Clone. (pic below) They measure 1″ round and 1/2″ high. I suppose they’d be more readily useable if they were pre-hollowed, but we’ll see.