Denon 103R

I found a site that sells the UWE type wood bodies for the Denon 103 Series cartridges:

http://www.goldenageaudio.com.au/

I would really like to try removing the plastic body of my 103R and trying it in a wooden body but It makes me nervous since I have terrible luck with sharp objects (xacto knives, lawn mowers, Dremel tools) and my fingers over the years.

I am also curious on how the differences between aluminum bodies (Zu Audio) and different types of woods affect the sound.

During the past summer I ran my DL-103R for a good 75+ hours to break it in and it now sounds radically different from new. Better bass, smoother and refined mid-range, and extended, cleaner, more relaxed highs. When it was new, it was on the slightly lean, squeaky-clean and analytical side. It needed a good 50 hours to begin to warm up and relax. I can only imagine the difference a wood body would make at this point.

Is this the place you bought your wood body from? What method/tool did you use to remove the stock plastic body?

I got my Half Wood body from a Guy in Italy, clinamenaudio. You are right about it being too analytical in the beginning. The wood body Cleared everything up and got rid a the Sibilance at the high level of treble. I want to try a full body wood body next.

I purchased a 'ClubWood' headshell dampener (Mpingo wood) a few months back to try out with my Zyx R100H: [ebay]190506528284[/ebay]

I got the Mpingo wood version. It installs between the cartridge and headshell mount, adding 2mm to the cartridge height. I was really impressed by the improvements it made, especially taming the IGD and sibilance I had with certain records. The overall focus and clarity improved in the mid and upper range, along with deeper and more powerful bass. IMHO, the wood acted as a harmonic dampener, disconnecting the cartridge and isolating the tonearm resonances from passing into the cartridge. I imagine the improvements of a wood body with a DL-103 would be similar.

The same Ebay dealer also sells a wood body for the DL-103R (in your choice of two woods) for $95 shipped: [ebay]190543901260[/ebay]
I'm not familiar enough with the wood choices he offers to form an opinion of its performance compared to other manufacturers of wood bodies. For $95, it doesn't seem like a bad deal. The quality of the wood headshell dampener that I brought from him was very good.