(Sold out. Next production run will be late summer 2010.)
If you have an existing Denon 103 and would like it to be Zu modified, we can remanufacture it for you. The price is $200 plus shipping. Please call or email for additional details.
Based on the legendary Denon DL-103—nuded, with machined body, dual compound epoxy potted motor assembly and body, increased weight and machined directly into body EIA standard two hole mounting.
"The Zu doesn't just slay giants: It rips their beating heart from their chests, shows it to them, finishes them off, then chases their souls and drags them down to hell. Recommended." —Art Dudley Read the full review at Stereophile...
So what’s it sound like? The original DL-103 is a classic, easy to set up and it really soaks the music from that stereo groove. It’s easy on the ears, has “super cart” status in the meat of the music range, with real stereophonic magicness. While the original has life, compared to modern pickups it ain't all that resolving in the bass; lacks detail as a whole, and is loosygoosy particularly in shimmer and treble tone, has this hazy-lazy pot-puffin' thing going on (which isn't’ necessarily a bad thing for the popular hi-fi sound with source gear and speakers trying to rip your head off with high frequency distortion).
The Zu / DL-103 cleans it all up, expanding all the good traits, adds incisiveness and full bandwidth dynamic slam and delicacy—all without making it sound like a soulless modern cartridge.
Read more...Denon’s factory tolerance between L&R for both output Voltage and internal coil impedance for the DL-103 cartridges is ≤ 3.0% as tested by us. Those factory Denon Cartridges that do not measure 2% or better are either reworked or resold as stock Denon products. This ensures that the Zu branded DL-103 pickups are the cream of the crop. And those of you that are after the very tightest of tolerances will be happy to learn that in remanufacturing this great cartridge we measure it at several points along the way and in final testing we grade the tight tolerance units measuring 1.0% or better. Tolerance is measured between the two channels’ internal resistance and output Voltage. Our tolerance spec is not an average of measures, but accounts for the lowest of any measurement, thus giving a true tolerance perspective. All tolerance measures are referenced to the Zu serial numbers and are graded and indicated on the label. As per inventory, we are offering these very high tolerance pickups.
Standard ≤ 2.0% | Grade 1 ≤ 1.0% | Grade 2 ≤ 0.5% | Grade 2 Prime (2') ≤ 0.1
Armature is made in Japan. Body and remanufacture by Zu in Ogden, Utah, USA.
The Zu/DL-103 is built to fall within EIA dimensions and can be mounted on any commercially available universal tonearm built to EIA standards. The Zu/DL-103 weighs 14 grams, please consult with the tonearm manufacturer if there is a question of weight compatibility. In some cases such as Rega tonearms, a “heavy weight” counterweight may need to be fitted to the tonearm.
Vertically level your Zu / DL-103
As the Zu/DL-103 is naked, we recommend you set your VTA (vertical tracking height) of your arm, or at least get it in the ball park, prior to instillation of the pickup. This pickup should sound best on a level tonearm, or rather the pickup should be orthogonally positioned to the record; parallel if you are looking at the horizontal planes. (Or finer yet, you want the stylus orthogonal to the groove plane.) You can get close by adjusting the distance between the top surface of the type of vinyl played most, to the bottom side of the EIA tonearm mount, roughly 0.60” of an inch (15mm), and then adjusting the VTA of the arm to be level with this point. You can easily verify that you are running a level pickup when the reflection in the record of the Zu/DL-103 is orthogonally mirrored; so there is no perspective difference or angle shift between the reflection and the actual pickup. The Zu/DL-103 features true right angles so this should be pretty easy work.
Pickup / pickup arm (tonearm) alignment
To ensure the lowest tracking error, please follow the alignment method outlined by the tonearm manufacturer. The body of the Zu/DL-103 are completely straight and at right angles to aid in the alignment of the stylus and arm. The stylus of the Zu/DL-103 sits roughly 0.06” behind the pickup face edge (-1.6mm).
Stylus pressure adjustment
Please follow your tonearm manufactures recommend procedure for setting stylus pressure. We recommend 2.5 grams of stylus force for normal conditions. Reduce stylus pressure to roughly 2.2 grams when the ambient in-room temperature is above 85˚F (30˚C). Increase stylus pressure to 2.7 grams when the ambient in-room temperature is lower than 60˚F (16˚C).
Zu / DL-103 to phono preamp matching
The nominal output voltage of the Zu/DL-103 is 0.3mV and the nominal internal impedance per channel is about 45 Ohms. We recommend running a step-up transformer for moving magnet phono preamps, or selecting moving coil (MC) and connecting it directly (without a step-up transformer in between). For MC phono preamps, we recommend setting your impedance to 80 to 160 Ohms.
RoHS compliant
Limited 5-year warranty
Made by Zu Audio in Ogden, Utah—USA
