Denon 103 ICE AGE CONNECTION

[pigdog]

certainly some very interesting development here with the JBL boys using concrete and mandy using mammoth ivory i think we are going stone age here

[Superman]

certainly some very interesting development here with the JBL boys using concrete and mandy using mammoth ivory i think we are going stone age here

[Jon Agner]

certainly some very interesting development here with the JBL boys using concrete and mandy using mammoth ivory i think we are going stone age here

Ches,

I think we can already cover most of the pre-historic age

[stereophile]

It's time for an update about this cool project!

Recently I had a chance to visit MandyM in his dungeon in San Pablo City. I saw, I heard and was entranced by Mandy's latest analog gem: the Mammoth Tusk cart body for a Denon DL103R. First of all, I'd like to thank Pigdog/Chester for providing Mandy with the precious Mammoth Tusk. It did not die in vain! It was unbelievable what the change in cart body alone can do to the sonics!

To my ears and in my system, the stock Denon DL-103R has more extension than the vanilla plain DL103 w/c I find biased more for the mids. The 103R is usually lean, a bit on the bright side and edgy. Soundstage is narrow...usually between the speakers. Replacing the stock plastic body with one made from fossilized mammoth tusk, I listened intently to vinyl playback in Mandy's system. I brought some familiar records: Fritz Reiner's Scheherazade(Chesky), Classic Records re-issue of Casino Royal. June Christy's Something Cool among others. I noticed a wide open and deeper soundstage- more than I am used to. The extension in the upper register is still there but now smoothened out. The mids have become lush and involving. The cart has evolved from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan so to speak.

The final test had to be done at home in my system. I mounted it on my SME 312s/Garard 301/Altec 15905 SUT/EAR 834P combo. Listening to it all via CJ gear(PV10 Al/Sonographe 400) and my Martin Logans, I was shocked at the wondrous transformation. I already had a clue in Mandy's system. Mounting it in mine confirmed how Mandy turned a leaden cartridge into gold!





I played an LP from Diana Krall's Best of. It's the whole side with The Look of Love completeing the trio. I never enjoyed this LP using the DL-103R for the reasons stated above, preferring my FR MC201 for lush vocals. The shock now was that the tusk 103R blew away my favorite FR MC201! Geez. The mids were fuller bodied and more curvaceous! Krall's performance became enchanting and haunting. I never thought I could experience such with the 103R. Here I was gritting my teeth track after track. I lost track of time yesterday afternoon. I asked a friend to drop by. He too confirmed what my ears heard.

One needs Mandy's REVENGE cart protector for this gem of a cart. The original plastic guard won't fit. The now nude cantilever/coils are not for the feint of heart. The Revenge was pretty easy to set up and use. You may need a longer set of mounting screws (2-56). I was lucky I found a pair in my toolbox. I've been losing sleep since...



Mandy & Chester- Thank you for stirring the analog mirth and raising the wooly mammoth back into our aural consciousness!

[vintage_dog]

doc lito, thanks for the detailed review and the wonderful pics.

reading this note while still jet-lagged, this got me salivating...now i don't think i can sleep....

congrats and more power to mandy for his creations!

[Superman]

CONGRATS Doc! Wonder how this would do wonders to the Denon 103 Non-R!

[detubo]

hey doc i too had a mandy mammoth 103r commissioned but listining to it has to wait due to a a bent cantiliver. i'm having it retipped though and can't wait to give it a spin. in the meantime just looking at it is pure pleasure. i can almost hear music.

[mandym]

It did not die in vain!

Hahaha!!

What great news to start my day!

Thanks Doc Lito for validating my observations (in spades)! I guess your high-res system really brought out the jewels luster! It's been 3 days since you retrieved your cart and I've been missing it! I will visit you whether you like it or not.

Yes, a big thank you to Chester "Mr. Enthusiasm" Ong who kept bombarding me with fresh ideas and materials, enthusiastically.

Let's look ahead for more new and exciting developments.

Mandy

[Mamimili]

Mandy,

Could you work with a piece of my femur?
I seek a personal sound for my Denon

[stereophile]

Mandy,

Could you work with a piece of my femur?
I seek a personal sound for my Denon

Hi Paul! Be careful what you wish for! Mandy has a way of making dreams come true! Dropby when you are in town for a listen.

Detubs- Yup, Mandy is an analog alchemist having transformed this cult favorite cart into something much more. I am sure yout retipped 103R(Ruby cantilever?) will present a more refined sonic picture than what I have.

Mandy- I wanted to mount it immediately when I got home from your place, but thought better to do it when I was less tired and had more time to concentrate on the set-up and tweaking. As I told you, when the needle dropped into the groove and I heard the first notes w/o Krall's vocals, I knew you had cast a magic spell. I was left staring blankly into the wonderful holographic sound stage which was so pleasing to my ears. Our wooly mammoth must be smiling down on us!

[audiostar]

Congrats doc I knew that Mandy's hand-crafted cart body won't fail you. Listening to his system in San Pablo already gave me an insight on how it would sound anywhere it will be mounted on I'm wishing that Mandy has some spare pieces from the tusk to work on for my rig

[Jon Agner]

Congrats Doc

[Mamimili]

Mandy,

Could you work with a piece of my femur?
I seek a personal sound for my Denon

Hi Paul! Be careful what you wish for! Mandy has a way of making dreams come true! Dropby when you are in town for a listen.

I read somewhere that we replace enough bone during our life to "build" 12 bodies. So i guess a small piece for a cartridge body would be replaced quite quickly If i come and have a few more screws taken out of my ankle could you..........

Detubs- Yup, Mandy is an analog alchemist having transformed this cult favorite cart into something much more. I am sure yout retipped 103R(Ruby cantilever?) will present a more refined sonic picture than what I have.

Mandy- I wanted to mount it immediately when I got home from your place, but thought better to do it when I was less tired and had more time to concentrate on the set-up and tweaking. As I told you, when the needle dropped into the groove and I heard the first notes w/o Krall's vocals, I knew you had cast a magic spell. I was left staring blankly into the wonderful holographic sound stage which was so pleasing to my ears. Our wooly mammoth must be smiling down on us!

[stereophile]

I read somewhere that we replace enough bone during our life to "build" 12 bodies. So i guess a small piece for a cartridge body would be replaced quite quickly If i come and have a few more screws taken out of my ankle could you..........

[audiostar]

I read somewhere that we replace enough bone during our life to "build" 12 bodies. So i guess a small piece for a cartridge body would be replaced quite quickly If i come and have a few more screws taken out of my ankle could you..........

I can sense that Paul is dead serious a better ID is to go grave digging so you won't worry about losing any part of you

[detubo]

a human bone for a cart body.................hmmmmmmm....a piece of a skull closest to where the processing of music is done..............as darkness falls.........

[kabubi]

I read somewhere that we replace enough bone during our life to "build" 12 bodies. So i guess a small piece for a cartridge body would be replaced quite quickly If i come and have a few more screws taken out of my ankle could you..........

I can sense that Paul is dead serious a better ID is to go grave digging so you won't worry about losing any part of you

make no bones about it, he wants a more personal sound that's why he wants the raw material from his own anatomy. that's his "bone of contention"

[stereophile]

Actually, the fibula bone(the smaller of the two bones in our leg) is a source of bone grafts...

[pigdog]

well all these jokes about bones, certainly got my funny bone

[Mamimili]

Actually, the fibula bone(the smaller of the two bones in our leg) is a source of bone grafts...

........does this mean you are considering my request?