Stylus Retipping Service (phono cartridge) - specialist from Russia, Moscow

I'm in for two.

 

Hey Guys,

New to this thread. I have a much loved Audio Technica AT-150 MLX that may well need a new stylus, which are now unobtainable . Are we discussing the possibility of a group buy that would benefit my cartridge? Is there any viable way to retip my cartridge? Is there any way to replace the stylus in my existing boron canteliever?

 

I have placed an ad in the Classified Ads forum, for a GROUP BUY of replacement Boron/MicroRidge cantilever/stylus.

If you want to finalize an order with me, for one or more of these Boron/MicroRidge cantilever/stylus, from Namiki, I am ready to place the order. Please make your payment to me.

As shown in the ad, they are $95 each, and my Paypal is [email protected]. If you want to pay by Bank Wire Transfer, let me know. If you are located outside the USA, then we will arrange another payment to cover shipping after I receive the package from Japan.

 

Hi Roman,

incredible works!

Please can you (or somebody in forum) help me with this matter? (please see my drawing)

1. Do you rewire the coils too?
2. I have put the question marks on the drawing. Where are the R+/- and L+/- channels?
3. Does it matter which wiring direction it has and where it begins?
4. Angle to vinyl groove 45° or 90°?

 

Great info. I don't think sibilance and IGD can be blamed on cantilever material, however. I think most of that has to do with suspension and, perhaps, suspension matching. The most sibilant cartridges I have ever heard were either very old or had inexpensive aftermarket replacement styli that featured what I would call "incomplete" suspensions and difficult cartridges. The primary example comes to mind: Stanton and Pickering. For some reason, generic inexpensive aftermarket styli for those are difficult to make. Unlike Shure, Empire and ADC, which aftermarket stylus manufacturers cut corners with by leaving out the tie wire to rely solely on the suspension donut with acclaimed results, Stanton and Pickering cartridges don't do well at all with a similar cut rate approach. Styli without tie wires can be very sibilant unless double or even triple the VTF is applied, which is not great for your records. Even the LPGear ViVidline does not contain the tie wire which causes strange cantilever behavior and audibly compromised top end. Most people don't complain about this one, but the fact is it is a midperformer saved, perhaps, by its line contact tip somewhat. The only aftermarket styli for Stanton and Pickering that I can recommend without hesitation or a list of conditions for getting the best out of them are the genuine Jico styli from Jico.

Note: some/most of the oddball behavior seems to have gone away once I installed a KAB fluid damper on my turntable. So the above notes probably most apply to observed behavior in an undamped arm.

Okay, so this isn't about moving iron and moving magnet cartridges, or tie wires, or whatever. How do these observations fit into place? Because I can take these same spitty and sibilant aluminum cantilevers and install them into other cartridges that have complete suspensions and they behave. No IGD, no sibilance, no odd behavior at all to be witnessed. Cantilever material and tip size/shape and even extended tip mass figures are all part of the chain, but also suspension design and quality.

Also, there is aluminum and there is aluminum. There are many different aluminum alloys used for cantilevers and looking at a table for general aluminum qualities may not always apply. Stanton and Pickering (and others) used anodized aluminum cantilevers (Stanton called is sapphirized) which creates a layer of corundum sapphire on the surface of the aluminum which has definite audible characteristics which some would agree are more exciting, but others may not care for these audible characteristics. Another benefit is increased ruggedness of the cantilever. Anodized aluminum cantilevers are tough as nails. Some aluminum cantilevers, particularly aftermarket, but also some name brand cantilevers, are made out of, apparently, a mildly thicker soft foil than what you find in your kitchen drawer and they dent with hardly any fingernail pressure. But even these in a good suspension do not sibilate or distort on the inner groove. I've a got Digitrac with a nude line contact tip that has an extremely soft aluminum cantilever like this, but it's got zero tracing issues. These don't even have a tie wire as part of the original design, either. It's just a well-balanced cantilever design with the fulcrum taking place in about the middle of the cantilever mass, which is probably the most stable place to have it without having to employ other means to control it. The softer aluminum alloys, though, may also be more acoustically neutral. It's hard to imagine them ringing in any way.

Okay, so get to the point: For me, whether to use boron or sapphire rather than aluminum, anodized aluminum, some other alloy, etc., really comes down to a matter of taste. Most boron and sapphire cantilevers I hear sound a bit harsh to me. I've got a bunch of SAS styli that I don't listen to very much except to reaffirm that I find them to be too edgy. There are exceptions, though. A Benz Micro Silver that I had retipped with sapphire by Sound Smith with the laser-drilled hole for the diamond tip is amazing, and the Jico SAS for the V15-VxMR is also not strident in any way--a dead ringer for the original beryllium foil VN5-VxMR stylus. But with the V15-VMR, the Jico SAS changes the entire character of the cartridge in ways that I don't appreciate because it lifts response and hardens all the edges. Interestingly, the original VN5-MR's sound is very successfully replicated with a stylus that uses aluminum as the cantilever material to the point that I can save my VN5-MR stylus indefinitely.

I know that most people want to upgrade their cartridges by having boron and sapphire cantilevers placed into them, but I don't always recommend it. In fact, I often don't recommend it. It's flashy, and it's exciting to do so, but you have to know that you like that sound beforehand. I spent last night listening to a Pickering D3000 that I'd retipped myself with a boron SAS cantilever taken from a brand new Shure N97xE SAS stylus and I just could not decide if I liked the harsher sound. Yes, details were more crisp. Dynamics improved a tad. Transients might be faster, images might be sharper and contrast greater. All true for the ears to observe.

The era of the XSV/3000, however, was characterized by a soft, smooth sound that the market at the time was after since the smooth-as-butter V15 was the dominant ideal cartridge. If I replace the cantilever on an XSV stylus with a soft aluminum cantilever and hyperelliptical tip, I'm always surprised at how much more alive yet also perhaps too much the resultant presentation becomes once again, but that is where, I believe, the difference in the diamond profile comes into play as the Stereohedron is just so smooth and detailed. But as always, I default to the idea that this is just my personal taste. I can find the super detailed cartridges with the harder presentations to be a bit more fatiguing to listen to after a while, perhaps.

In any case, one thing that has not improved with sapphire cantilevers installed by SS and Expert Stylus, or the boron cantilevers on Jico SAS that Jico put together or that I have done myself is IGD and sibilance. Those are caused by word diamonds, bad alignment, arm issues, or old suspensions in my observation--also arm matching.

Nonetheless, I've ordered some boron MR cantilevers from Warren and now I have to decide which cartridges I'm going to assign them to.

 

1. Roman does not rewire coils, and I know of nobody who does. If a coil is open-circuit, the cartridge is "unrepairable" as far as I know.
2, 4) Your picture is shown in the wrong orientation. Rotate it 45 degrees.
3) It matters, first to preserve correct right/left, and second to preserve absolute phase.

 

Those who advertise, at least, that they can rewind coils: Northwest Analog (England), Expert Stylus (England), Sound-Smith (New York, USA) and Ana Mighty Sound (France) off the top of my head. Maybe also Tonabnehmer Service (Franz-Joseph Schulte, formerly Alex Scheurholz in Germany) and possibly Garrott Bros in Australia. There's also a guy in Russia named Dmitry who might be able to do it. He has rewound coils, but all the rewinds he's done that I know of have been to high output MCs and the resulting rewind is low output. He can be found and contacted pretty easily by searching around.

Also, for Decca London owners, John Wright in England can rebuild/restore/update/upgrade any Decca cartridge as he holds the licenses and patents from the original company and was an engineer there before it dissolved. He now produces the latest line of Decca London cartridges, apparently, single-handedly. Ana Mighty actually offers a dizzying array of coil materials for rewinding DL-103 cartridges (and they also invite you to contact them about other cartridges). You can even get solid gold coils wound for your DL-103 from Ana Mighty. I don't even want to guess at the price. There are a lot of restrictions, though. I suspect it's a case by case basis and, of course, it's probably in most cases cost prohibitive in that you can just buy a new cartridge for the price the rewind will cost you. But if you have a $10,000 Koetsu, it could amount to significant savings over buying a new one and they're easy to get open. Can't forget that Koetsu itself will rewind your cartridge for you and totally update it. For those who have Sugano era Koetsus, though, this is not a desirable option since most like the idea of converting a Sugano Koetsu into a modern Fumihiko Koetsu. If you have a cartridge that is difficult to open up without damaging, then that's probably also a reason for a retipper/rebuilder to say no. Might also depend on the type. It's tough to imagine anyone being able rewind a Yamaha air coil, or even the delicate formerless coils on a Technics 310MC, but perhaps one of them might be able to. However, obtaining a used 310MC with good coils would make a lot more sense.

 

If mine was great info then I'd call yours stupendous (empirical before and after) info. There is always the "on paper" approach and then there are the practical/real-life observations. The only carts I've had trouble with involve Aluminum cantilevers and line contact diamonds but as you mention, suspension and arm-matching are certainly not to be discounted. I mentioned this in another thread, do you know anything about the C-1000 carbon cantilevers that Zyx is now offering with their higher dollar carts. Is this an upgrade or a smoke and mirrors cost cutting measure? I'm actually thinking I might want to put a Boron stick on the MC-100 I told you about and as you say I definitely think getting the length right is a key factor.

 

I am just reminding everyone that the Group Buy for Namiki replacement styli, Boron/MicroRidge is ending today. My order for all of us is going in tonight, and I am paying tomorrow. They are $98 each to my Paypal, [email protected]. No extra for shipping in the USA. For outside the USA, I will figure out shipping and bill when its time.

 

I don't know anything about the ZYX carbon cantilevers, but I think it's interesting that the only other place to my knowledge that a carbon cantilever is found is on the BOTL Audio-Technica half inch cartridge. But it's really a fine cartridge and I've wondered why carbon hasn't been used more for cantilevers. It's sonically neutral, self-damped, hard, light and stiff and it sounds great. I might try a couple retips with carbon cantilevers just to see what I think. But as far as I know, I can only get conical tips on them.

Now, what it's doing on a ZYX, I don't know. But I imagine that their engineers know what they are doing. I haven't understood ZYX to be a company that cheaps out, so their reputation alone leads me to believe in what they are doing.

 

Zyx is promising Microridge with their Carbon sticks and other than the Bloom 3 (Aluminum) and Ultimate Diamond (it's in the name) it's their primary offering.

 

Regarding the Group Buy that I started, the order has been placed and paid for. I ordered 2 more of these Boron/MicroRidge styli than I need, so there are 2 available for anyone who still wants to participate. Anywhere in the world, you are invited. They are $98 each, free shipping within the USA, or actual cost of shipping anywhere else.

 

Apparently, Goldring also offers rewinding and retipping, according to this website. Goldring - Cartridge Refurbishment and Repair Service from Goldring

Seems like if you live in England, you have a lot of choices.

 

Hmmm. That is good news, thank you. Since I am an Audio Note dealer, I probably have a special opportunity to work with Goldring, if I decide to try using them. They OEM parts of AN's MM cartridges (not the stylus and cantilever, though).

 

Oops. The post above should say:

 

Hello everybody!

Anybody knows Hassan Touil from France ([email protected]) ?
He sent me request for retipping of Lyra Delos, but it seems something wrong with his mailbox.
My messages can not be delivered to him.

Hassan, if you will see this message - pleace contact me here or through the different mailbox.

 

Technics EPC-100C MK3 (1981)

MM - Moving Magnet cartridge
Price in 1981 - 70'000 Japanese Yen
Frequency response - 5Hz〜100kHz
It was second model from the top of the line Technics cartridge.
The latest top of the line was 100C MK4

100C MK3 is outstanding cartridge, it looks beautiful and it plays beautiful!
This is one of my favorite MM cartridges.
I've got this cartridge also with original cantilever - hollow boron with elliptical diamond shape 0.2x0.7 mil (not the best shape you can wish for the top of the line model).
And you all just can't even imagine how good it's sounds with JICO SAS (boron+micro-line) replacement stylus.
Improvement over original cantilever is just crazy!
Now this MM cartridge can easily overplay some really nice MC cartridges!
Glorious cartridge and glorious sound.

And it wasn't even retipping... It was transplantation.
One of my most difficult works.
I spent the whole day in suspense doing it.

That was my own vision - how to repair MM stylus in that that.
I have never seen before anybody doing it this way.

 

You are a true artist. Beautiful work!

 

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

 

That is work of the highest grade, Roman - I take my hat off to you!

 

I wanted to say "that way".

I mean... I have seen retipped versions of this cartridge before, but it was done in a "typical" way, by using small tube adapter to connect the piece of old broken cantilever with a new one. How usually I'm doing it.
But here I tried completely different way of repair. I tried it once (with JICO NEO SAS sapphire cantilever) and it was successful. So I tried it second time and success again.