Up front remmember it tracks at 2.5 grams, some find that unacceptable. The sound; it's a nice warm fat sound, not sparkly but sweet. Is this making any sense? It does have the appearence of reduced surface noise; not weak in the highs but less aggressive. It tracks almost anything; reffering back to your original post. I try other carts but eventually come back to the Denon due t the musicality. If you love detail and hyper-resolution, which is fine depending on the music you like; then pass it by would be my recommendation. I like a lot of 50/'s jazz and old acid rock as well as singer/songwriters. This mix works real well with the 103. I use a Fidelity Research step-up. As far as record wear, I don't care much anymore. I have a lot of albums and if I played one a day it would take years to go through them all and by then I won't hear too good anyway.