Testimonials

Guy – got the cartridge today. Installed. Listened for a couple of minutes. That’s all I needed to confirm I made the right choice – this thing is awesome!!!

…a week later:

Hi, Guy. Hope all is well.
First of all – I’m absolutely thrilled with the new cartridge. It is really breathing new life into my vintage system. I can’t describe how much better everything sounds. Awesome!

Your attention to quality is obvious, as is the attention to performance and value. Your exemplary communication and personal customer support are the icings on the cake. Well done!!

My Soundsmith Zephyr III cartridge, which cost considerably more ($1499) than my new Musikraft (and sounds lifeless in comparison), has been relegated to the DP47F, which I use to play older, poorer condition, poorer recorded records – like the old K-Tel “original artists” compilations.

…It is getting increasingly rare these days to find a product and company that combines outstanding performance, quality, customer service, and value. I hope you have great success!

Hi Guy,

I have completed the ‘critical listening’ phase with my new cartridge and now I’m simply enjoying the music. Thought you might like to know my observations after 25-hours+ of critical listening. My Audio MusiKraft First Magnesium DL 103R cartridge has more than 60-hrs. on it now therefore I assume that it is fully broken-in.

I took great care mounting & aligning the new cartridge. I tested & refined the set-up using Hi-Fi News’ test record. Your cartridge passed all of the tracking torture-tests with flying colours with the exception of their famous track-9 (Side-1) which almost no cartridge can track. On their arm/cartridge resonance test (Side-2, tracks 2&3) my system resonated at 10-to-11-Hz, which is ideal. This might be a useful reference for you in future when addressing questions regarding the compatibility of your cartridge with an SME 309 arm. If you recall I was concerned that my arm might be too low in mass for your low-compliance cartridge. In the event there’s nothing to be concerned about.

As for listening, I would characterise your cartridge as throwing a huge soundstage both in breadth & depth; a significantly larger soundstage than my previous – Ortofon Quintet Black – cartridge. It also has a more luscious mid-range, silkier highs and slightly diminished but noticeably tighter bass. The image resolution is definitely sharper without sounding etched. But the most dramatic difference between the MusiKraft First (Mg) DL 103R and the Ortofon is unquestionably the soundstage.

Another surprising observation, the MusiKraft First (Mg) DL 103R tracks records better than any other cartridge I’ve ever used in my system! I own a number of damaged LPs with tracks that have been unplayable with other cartridges. I have over the years owned Shure M91E (MM renowned for tracking everything), Boston Acoustics MC-1 (MC), Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood (MM) and Ortofon Quintet Black (MC) and none of these have been able to track these damaged LPs. The MusiKraft First (Mg) DL 103R tracks these albums with aplomb thereby increasing my enjoyment of them immeasurably.

The MusiKraft First (Mg) DL 103R is the best cartridge that I’ve ever had in my system, period. In my opinion it is a superb cartridge and a great value.

I’m using a 100% stock SME 309 tonearm including their stock removable headshell. I’ve set the tracking force at 2.6-gms. It’s mounted on a Transrotor Fat Bob-S turntable with Transrotor Magnetic Drive (TMD) bearing and their ‘Konstant Reference’ power supply. It’s never sounded this good.

P.S. Should have also mentioned that your First (Mg) DL-103R cartridge renders much quieter backgrounds than the Ortofon Quintet Black. Surface noise, ticks & pops, etc. are noticeably reduced.

Cordialement,
Marc

Hi Guy,

I’m very happy with the results; my vinyl sounds better than ever. I experimented with and without the wood inserts and decided the wood smoothed the sound and just seemed a bit more natural. I may experiment with treating the inserts further down the line.

In theory, the Alphason is supposed to suit higher compliance cartridges but the combination works really well for me – perhaps the ultra-stiff titanium arm makes a difference?

Thanks for an exceptional product and friendly service.

I look forward to getting the shell and start experimenting with it… received the package from you the other day. It even looks better than on the pictures I have seen. Thank you:-) …The videos are very useful, I will examine them thoroughly.

Dear Guy,

The cartridge arrived safe and sound and, after spending some time finding the rights screws to attach it to my tonearm, I finally got it all set up this morning. I’ve attached a couple of pictures. It’s fabulous! I’ve not yet experimented with taking the wood out, etc. as right now I’m just enjoying how it sounds. But I certainly look forward to hearing its different possible sounds. Honestly, I’ll be shocked if it sounds better than what I’m hearing right now.

Thank you so much for all of your help. I am thrilled with my new cartridge!

Hi Guy,

I have just received the shell and extra insert! It just simply looks beautiful. It’s really amazing and just makes you happy just looking at it. Again, thank you so much for the outstanding service and the purchase. Will recommend all my hifi-friends to visit your webshop.

Just a few words…Your Service and your passion is remarkable

Just to let you know (I’m slow) that I finally got my musikraft denon up and running. With no wood inserts and some adj. sound is very dynamic but a little aggressive but with the wood and no adj a bit too warm. With adj of pressure screws, it’s sounding very nice. As good but different as my Sumiko Celebration (US $2,799,) in some ways like richness of tone (rosewood) perhaps better. Running on a Sota Nova with Fidelity Research fx 64 tonearm. Thought you might like the feedback.
AND, the tiny machining and precision of these shells are utterly unreal.

Best George

Guy, the cart sounds amazing so far. It is truly a masterpiece!

Just got the package.

Thank you so very very much, I really appreciate the extra wood inserts…….very generous of you and I can’t tell you how stoked I am to get this all mounted.

The cartridge arrived late last week and I haven’t opened the box yet. It may take me a couple of days or so but I will report as soon as I have some impressions. It’s going to be big fun, I will have to send you some images once I get things together.

This is really very exciting and I must say that you have provided a beautiful product, really a little jewel, hard to get a sense from the pictures.

Many thanks,

Gabriel

Bonjour Guy,

I thought you might like to hear how things are with the Musikraft headshell. You can read, below (previous email), that I had a few problems. I think, now, that I needed to wait a bit longer before giving an opinion. After using the Denon 103 for maybe 70 hours, there have been changes for the better. The DL103 is mounted In an aluminum Musikraft body, fitted to a Yamamoto ebony headshell, on an Ikeda IT CR 407 tonearm. My turntable Is a Merrill Williams 101.2 mounted on a Townshend ‘seismic platform’. The 103, tracking at 2.7g and about 1.5g side thrust, plays the 70 micro g band on my Ortofon test record without so much as a hint of mistracking! The Denon 103 Is connected to my Tom Evans ‘Mastergroove’ phono stage which Isn’t at all shy about letting you know If your cartridge is set up properly!

A $250 pick-up mounted in a $7,000 arm, connected to a $18,000 phono stage, might seem bizarre but not when you hear It. My favorite game is asking listeners to guess the cost of the pickup. They see that I have Ikeda ‘Kai’ ($8,500) and an Audio Note ‘IO gold’ (7,000€) pick-ups, on a shelf beside my turntable and assume that they are listening to something of a similar price. They refuse to believe that what they are hearing is coming from a lowly old fashioned 1960s Denon with a round tip!

I can’t recommend your Musikraft body enough. My only remaining complaint is the lack of a stylus guard but I see you are now offering one of them too. Et Voila!

Best Regards Kevin M.

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