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Ana Mighty Sound 103.3

I am offering a quick description of my modified Denon 103r. I have read reviews about how great the already good sounding Denon 103R or plain 103 can be once re-bodied. I am the type who has to try it for myself in order to be sure eveything is optimized. After looking at the various companies performing mods, Zu, Sound Smith, etc. I decided to go with Ana Mighty Sound in France. One of the things that helped me make my decision was the fact that I mistakenly thought the cue was up on my SL-1200 GAE and I ended up knocking the cartridge into the platter thereby scewing the cantilever. Choice made, get the mod :)

While I waited I bought a second Lp Zupreme Headshell and a second 103r so that I could do a head to head comparison once my modified 103r was returned to me.

I received the modified 103r (henceforth referred to as 103a, for "103 Ana") this past Friday so it is REALLY new, read not run-in.

Even so, cold out of box it is better than the stock unit but after about two hours it is surprising me with just how well it is performing. It is at this point far beyond the 103r. Whereas my mac mini with LPS and Uptone JS-1 power supply (also with the fan kit), iUSB 3.0, x2 iFi Gemini II USB cables, AMR DP 777 se, HQPlayer and Roon, easily outperforms the 103r, the 103a has pulled slightly ahead of my digital on the admitted limited testing I have been able to do.

I purchased the 103.3 with the Malachite body, boron cantilever with micro-ridge stylus and the 22 degree angle adjust for the modern stylus (Ana Mighty Sound are the only modifiers I know of who correctly adjust the angle of the cantilever on the 103 after installing a more modern and acute stylus).

I now have a cartridge that is absolutely world class for 783 Euro (plus the original) cost of the 103r. I have compared it directly to my London Reference ($5K) which is mounted on a Schick Oil-Soaked graphite headshell. They sound very close but the 103a has a bit better body on female vocals. If 50 is dead neutral I would say the London is 49. It is on jazz or blues, basically anything with drums, piano or large dynamic swings and peaks where the London just simply cleans the clock of any other cartridge I have heard. The London very much reminds in some regards to my R2R running 15ips.

I am going to order another Lp Zupreme today so that I can compare my Ortofon MC Anna to the 103a.

I will say that my SL1200 GAE with the SPL Phonos and my 103a is absolutely world class. I don’t know at this point if I will ever purchase another expensive cartridge. I actually was not prepared for my secondary analog rig to take that big a leap in performance. I am very very pleased with the purchase.

I will continue to comment as the unit runs-in.

The linear power supply project for my SL 1200 GAE was delayed do to extreme flooding in the area which delayed parts delivery. That project will probably commence in about the next 4 weeks and I will write that up. I am glad it happened that way as I don’t like changing more than one variable at a time.

Until next time.
audiofun

Showing 6 responses by chakster

chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
May i ask why should anyone rebuild cheap Denon 103 Cartridge for as much as 800 Euro if many better cartridges available for the same price?
Where is the common sense here? Just curious. 

The price for rebuild + the cost of the Denon itself is the price for the brand new Art-9 for example or equal to the price of many used cartridges that comes with advanced cantilevers (hollow pipe boron, beryllium, gold-plated boron etc) and advanced styli from the start (microline, micro ridge, frits gyger, stereohedron, paroc etc). All those are factory made and installed by the manufacturer, not a third party. 

  


chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@islandmandan Dan, i have no idea why people buyin’ cartridge with spherical tip to invest 800 Euro more in upgrade for a better cantilever and better stylus etc, when decent cartridges available for the same amount of money (like the new ART-9 for example). Even 350 Euro + $250-300 (the cost of the original Denon) is enough for a perfect cartridge with best cantilever/stylus combo.

Everyone if free to "upgrade" whatever cartridge for whatever price, but why not just start with a better cartridge  instead of the Denon 103 or 103R? What is the advantages of the 103 generator compared to other LOMC ? It’s conventional design, nothing special. I’m sure the upgraded version is much better, because the spherical tip is oldschool from the late 60s. But so many amazing cartridges were made in the 70s, 80s (includind much better models from Denon), even today’s carts like ART-7 or ART-9 are reasonably priced. Why low compliance Denon 103 ($250) + 800 Euro ? Just for fun?
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
According this logic any CHEAP plastic MC cartridge can be refurbished by someone at the garage with aftermarket parts, pretended to beat sonically some amazing cartridges made by respected companies and their very well educated engineers or by the legendary cartridge designers. The answer is always DENON 103 and additional 800 Euro on top to rebuild it? BTW i didn’t get how the cost of Denon and the cost of rebuild became $2000, but anyway i just don’t understand the logic.

First i don’t understand why it must be a DENON MC generator? This is the best generator in the world? The low compliace cartridges rules?

Second i don’t understand why the cantilevers from Namiki or Ogura are the best if they are not made for specific cartridge designer exclusively. Every retipper can buy them to rebuild any broken cartridge.

The difference is that for a big companies or well know cartridge designers those cantilevers/styli are made exclussively and they are different.

And i think it’s been said many times that some of the very best materials are not available anymore for anyone in the world, but still available with an old cartridges from the 70s/80s and that’s why they are superior to many new cartridges (imo).

For $2k i would buy some of the legendary carts from the 70s/80s, this is the price to find them NOS, even some extremely rare can be purchaced for this price. The cantilevers can be hollow pipe boron, beryllium, or even diamond for this price. Or maybe cantilever-less like Ikeda carts. 

As for the low compliance new design the Miyajima Kansui is very close to this price tag.

chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
As far as i know Francois was and still is a dealer of Thomas Schick tonearms and some other high-end stuff. Thomas Schick is a DIYer, who started "hot rodding" low compliance cartridges like Denon, EMT, SPU with passion for Cala Mighly Sound (later renamed to Anna Mighly Sound). Francois always praised T.Schick for his works. 

I can be wrong, but i think it's Thomas Schick who's still refurbishing cartridges for Anna Mighty Sound. Correct me if i'm wrong. 
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@francoissg Nice to hear from you, Francois. Thanks for detailed answer. It's always importasnt to get the info directly from the manufacturers and you're not alone here (Lyra and Atmasphere manufacturers are always helpful on our forum and it's great), so don't hesitate to post. 

I memeber another retipper who praised oldschool cartridge after rebuild, that was Northwest Analogue and the cartridge was a refurbished Goldring G800, classic British MM design. Many happy owners on audiogon compared refurbished Goldring G800 to some very best carts. What is questinable is the total cost of that work/investment compared to the price of the better carts available. 

 
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@audiofun 

 it’s a current amplifier which means it will auto load the cartridge.

One of my phono stage works like that to auto load the MC cartridges, definitely not for every cartridge, but at the moment i like it so much with FR-7f cartridge. Sadly the unit is out of production and i believe they sold very few before the WLM company closed their operation.  
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