Your cartridge should be fine until it needs to be retipped. If you do not have a rector day cleaning machine you should buy one. The VPI 16.5 or new Pro-Ject RCM would be a good place to start.
Cartridge Dilema For New Turntable
I am ready to purchase a VPI Prime turntable and I am not sure if my current cartridge (ZU/Denon DL103) is up to the task. The cartridge was their best grade and I paid 650.00 for it. It is presently on my VPI Scout turntable of which the Prime will be replacing. Do you think my present cartridge is in the same league as the Prime? I like the tracking and that it doesn’t emphasize the clicks and pops on my well worn Rock records. I am quite satisfied with the sound of it.
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If you are concerned that you may not be "getting the most" out of the turntable you can always have the 103's stylus/cantilever replaced. Soundsmith does a great job and offers different high performance stylus profiles that will perform up to the abilities of the deck. The "Denon sound" is still there - just with more detail, dynamics and imaging. I purchased a re tipped Denon 103 that had a ruby cantilever and Optimized Contour Contact Line stylus. The improvements across the board were amazing. However, the conical stylus of the stock 103 is much more forgiving when it comes to pops, cracks, surface noise. Also, setup needs to be more precise Take a look at.... http://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information But as the other posters noted - the ZU 103 is very good cartridge. I'd wait until it needs replacing |
Thanks guys, thats what I thought as well. Looking forward to the new TT. I must be out of my mind as I just put a 4K deposit down on the new GE Triton Reference speakers which I should receive late May/early June. I am retiring at the end of 2017 so I want to get my audio purchases out of the way before I start living on a fixed income. |
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