Let's now take a "look" at the musical qualities of the optional phono stage. Here, of course, the acoustic properties of the Denon DL 103R have their impact and decisively determine the sonic outcome. By means of the DIP switch I alternately selected 100 ohms and 1000 ohms as terminating impedances. The split-channel switches allow the changeover from MM to MC, as well as the selection of three capacitances for MM. For MC mode, the offered terminating impedances are 10 ohms, 47 ohms, 100 ohms and one kiloohm. I liked the 100 ohms a little better on the Denon, because this way the harmonics seemed a bit more calm, more restrained. What I already noticed on the first album I picked, namely the A-side of Joachim Witt’s album Silberblick featuring the successful titles "Kosmetik" and "Goldener Reiter", was the spatial depth and resolution in the lows, which I hadn’t experienced from the DL 103R before. It's owed to the cartridge that this wasn’t equally transferred to the high frequencies – that the Power III couldn’t be blamed for that, its digital section had already made clear initially. However, listening was fun, even if the desire for a higher-quality cartridge became apparent at the latest after the following album. Gregory Porter performed very authentic in the songs "The Way You Want To Live" or "Real Good Hands", featured on his album Be Good. Here, the Denon's limitations were less noticeable, as the Accustic Arts amp was convincing in regard to naturalness, timbre and three-dimensionality. My Epsilon ribbon speakers are not the most spontaneous representatives of their guild in the lower ranges, so all the more surprising and pleasing was what the phono stage made possible here in terms of dynamics. The phono stage matches well the musical character of the integrated amplifier, so if you want to aim for higher spheres, you'll have to invest considerably more in an external solution.