I have copy on vinyl of John Lee Hooker, The Healer.  My original copy went walkabout during a House move a few years ago.  Couldn’t find a replacement, discogs listing them at $300+.

A copy came up on TM, said had. Minor scratch at start of side 2.  Otherwise.near mint. Gave it an US clean and using the 2M Black (Shibata stylus) the disc plays flawlessly on both sides.  Yamaha YP 9 DD tt.

Played it with the 103R on the Ittok arm of my LP12 yesterday.  The elliptical stylus picked up the clicks from the scratch!   Hmm

Has your 103R been re-tipped ?

OEM is conical/spherical.

What arm cable, phono stage, preamp ?

Would have expected the reverse with 103/Black.

When I went from DV20/2 to Lyra, many problem records fixed themselves

Adding the Purist Audio Design cable improved things again.

The Shibata digging in deeper below the scratch, and the Denon catching the scratch near the surface with its conical tip?

Ahh, conical stylus of course in the 103R. Faulty memory!
As Citroen said, I suspect that to be the case.
michaelw, Ittok arm on LP12 with 103R.
Micro seiki designed standard arm on Yamaha DD
Both into Perreaux VP3 phono pre (has selectable MM or MC )
Into tuner input on Plinius 8150.

BTW, I have a Denon 103R factory direct Shibata cart.

How'd you manage that ?

Even the 100th, 110th Anniversary 103s and Highphonics 103 Pro stuck with the stock spherical stylus.

I know what you mean, and I haven't looked at it under a microscope to see if it is a Shibata, as if I would know the difference anyway!

Just going by the box label, and yes, I know anyone can add stickers that say anything

I bought it as a normal 103R.

let's see the freq response graph...

My DL-A100

Dynavector DV20XL2 Low