Clearly It would be very cool if it was actually transparent.
I am saving my penny's for the ZuAudio version.
We’ve always been fans of fruitful collaborative partnerships, so we’re happy to see Denon and Devon Turnbull of OJAS have joined forces to produce the limited-edition Denon DL-103o moving-coil cartridge.
As many of you probably know, the Denon DL-103 cartridge has been a mainstay in our analog universe for 60-plus years. Originally designed for professional broadcast use in 1962, the DL-103 has remained a longstanding staple of the company’s cartridge line, with its current iteration being the DL-103R.
Carrying on with that tradition, the limited-edition DL-103o MC cart is built by Denon and styled by the above-noted audio innovator/upstart Turnbull (a.k.a. OJAS). According to Denon, Turnbull wanted to “create a special edition of the legendary cartridge, [and] he knew he didn’t want to change its sound. Instead, he styled the exclusive special-edition DL-103o with a transparent casing that reveals the artistry inside.”
Turnbull’s clear-casing design for the DL-103o provides direct insight into the cartridge’s inner workings. Don’t just take our word for it — see what Turnbull himself has to say about the making of the DL-103o in the official YouTube clip below.
In general, Denon MC carts feature a low-mass design and stylus assembly. The DL-103o offers a conical tip, its fine-gauge 99.9999% pure 6N copper wire coils are hand-wound “with precision” to the cantilever shaft, and the stylus itself is 0.2mm square solid diamond.
Specs for the DL-103o cart are as follows. Output voltage is given as 0.25mV (1kHz, 50mm/s horizontal direction), channel balance as 1dB max (1kHz), channel separation as 25dB min (1kHz), frequency range as 20 to 45,000Hz, electrical impedance as 14ohms ±20%, load impedance as 100ohms min (40ohms when using a transformer), tracking force as 25mn ±3mn (2.5g ±0.3g), and its weight is 8.5g (0.3oz).
Finally, the Denon DL-103o limited-edition MC cartridge has an SRP of $549. In comparison, the current cart in this line, the aforementioned DL-103R, has an SRP of $499.
For more about Denon, go here.
To order a Denon DL-103o MC cart direct, go here
Clearly It would be very cool if it was actually transparent.
I am saving my penny's for the ZuAudio version.
Oh wait, sorry.
This is nice marketing. Not sure if anything else.