Hi all:
The YouTube channel Jana Loves Hi-Fi has posted a video about the building process of the Denon DL-103 MC cartridge, at the Shirakawa factory in Japan.
FWIW, I think that the coil wire diameter used in the DL-103 is 15µm Ø.
The video skips over key areas such as the fabrication of the armature, polepieces, how the stylus is attached to the cantilever, suspension wire choices etc.
But it does discuss seldom-mentioned subjects like how the damper performance is affected by temperature, and overall is well worth watching.
Please give the video a "like" so that more videos of this type will be made in the future 😃.
kind regards, jonathan
PS. Ariga-san has been involved in building cartridges from 1983, which is one year after I started designing them.
The YouTube channel Jana Loves Hi-Fi has posted a video about the building process of the Denon DL-103 MC cartridge, at the Shirakawa factory in Japan.
FWIW, I think that the coil wire diameter used in the DL-103 is 15µm Ø.
The video skips over key areas such as the fabrication of the armature, polepieces, how the stylus is attached to the cantilever, suspension wire choices etc.
But it does discuss seldom-mentioned subjects like how the damper performance is affected by temperature, and overall is well worth watching.
Please give the video a "like" so that more videos of this type will be made in the future 😃.
kind regards, jonathan
PS. Ariga-san has been involved in building cartridges from 1983, which is one year after I started designing them.
The DL103 is a great cartridge for the money and its been around since the early 1960s. I lived in Japan for 5 years - watching videos like this brings back a lot of memories.
The Denon DL-103, 103R, and the discontinued 103D are my all time fav.
And this exquisite little clip should put every other YouTubers to shame.
The economics I learned:
Which translate to:
The stylus/cantilever assemblies appear to be outsourced, which also makes sense. I remember, some half century ago, there were some Japanese reps travelling around with jeweler cases of various styli, cantilevers, magnets, casings, etc., so the (business) customers can mix and match and "design" their very own cartridges.
Also, the Swiss Gyger guys used to do retipping, and they did a great job at that. One day, I was doing some small talk with one of their techs about the different profiles, and he said going from an elliptical to a hyperbolical shape will incur an extra charge of... 10 cents! We had a good laugh!
And this exquisite little clip should put every other YouTubers to shame.
The economics I learned:
- "... 50 pcs. at a time
- ... 4 days (2 people)"
Which translate to:
- 2 x 4 x 8h = 64h
- 64 / 50 = 1.28h each cartridge
- Assuming the wage range in JP is USD 10/h to 30/h
- Labour cost = USD 13-40
The stylus/cantilever assemblies appear to be outsourced, which also makes sense. I remember, some half century ago, there were some Japanese reps travelling around with jeweler cases of various styli, cantilevers, magnets, casings, etc., so the (business) customers can mix and match and "design" their very own cartridges.
Also, the Swiss Gyger guys used to do retipping, and they did a great job at that. One day, I was doing some small talk with one of their techs about the different profiles, and he said going from an elliptical to a hyperbolical shape will incur an extra charge of... 10 cents! We had a good laugh!
Are they still retipping? My DL103 is about ready for a retip, but I’m not sure where to get it done - seems like Swiss precision might be a good route!
Sadly, no, AFAIK.
My story is half a century old.
I too would like to find someone trustworthy to tend my worn out cartridges. 🙁
My story is half a century old.
I too would like to find someone trustworthy to tend my worn out cartridges. 🙁
Van Den Hul used to have a retipping service. Worth checking out.
Expert Stylus in the UK is still active, I think.
jeff
Looks like they are still active. They say a typical stylus requires replacement at 700-800 hours. I’m probably at 300hrs.
https://www.expertstylus.co.uk/
https://www.expertstylus.co.uk/