When the carbon mat arrives and put on and it might increase my leaning towards the silver and black look. What you can't see is that the cones are silver and carbon fiber, which goes well with the silver platter and black knob. The mat should arrive in a day or two and will help me finalize the cosmetic appearance of the table. More importantly is how it sounds.
Initially, I felt that the Benz M0.9 was a better cartridge for the table, tighter bass more explosive midrange. However, on some recordings I could not eliminate the sibilance no matter how much fussing I did with VTA, VTF and overhang, so, I went back to the Denon and I am very please with this combination. It is really amazing to me how nice the Denon DL 301ii can sound. From bottom to top the frequency have a truth to timbre, with instruments coming across as they should. It is a rich organic sounding combination that is addictive to the ear and forces you to spin albums when you should have long ago went to bed.
I have a tendency to to build up these tables and then pass them on. I'm really hoping that this is one that I can keep for the long run. Having two tables set up has its advantages and this is a table I would like to pass down to one of my kids. Also, I am not giving up my Thorens TD850, which is also highly modded. However, if cash does become an issue the new owner will have the ability to swap out platters and knobs and create the look he or she desires. But I don't think that option will happen anytime soon.