My new OC9/mlii diamond fell off on first use! (yet another case with AT boron cantilever!)

This is the second OC9ml/ii I have owned - this one I bought a couple of weeks back when the price dropped to $358! I finally found time to mount it today, and the first LP on the first side about halfway through I head a tad bit of distortion, thinking a piece of airborne something got lodged under the stylus. (I live in AZ with AC running a lot) so I removed the headshell, inspected with the 20x loupe --- no diamond!!!!! Had to do a double take, yup gone!

I did a quick perusal around the TT, didn't see where it landed yet - I also have carpeting, and had to walk about 25 feet with it across the room over to where my loupe was stored - so it could be nestled anywhere in the carpet.

I have heard about this before of course - there are stories around the net, especially around the AT-150MLX - but you never think it will happen to you!

Immediately contacted the seller, awaiting reply. I have bought 6 or 7 cartridges from this seller and they took care of an issue before, expecting to be taken care of. They are an authorized AT Dealer.

What is interesting, before I bought my first cartridge from this seller months ago (an AT-150MLX coincidentally) -- I actually asked the seller in an email about their knowledge / history of diamonds falling off. Ironic that after querying about the problem, it happens to me on a different boron cantilever cartridge.

 

Horrible on the first day but I know how it feels, I still have a Denon 103 that had the cantilever rotating on it's axle after probably no more than an hour usage. The seller left me to get stuffed, I should have been more persistent. I still have it someday might end up in Soundsmith.
I actually have on my main a new OC 9III, it hasn't caused any problem and I am fairly happy with it.

 

Wow. Was it an authorized seller? How long did you own it before mounting?

I would have raised a fit, but that's me - authorized seller or not! Then again it all depends how and where you bought it, I buy carts from both sellers who are authorized and not authorized at times too, and you take your chances (and I rarely if EVER have a problem - lucky for me this time it was from an authorized seller).

 

It's now probably 7 or 8 years ago, it was a small brick and mortar shop in a suburb (doesn't exist anymore) I don't know whether they were an authorized dealer or not but I believe they might have been as I ordered several cartridges at the same time and they've got them quickly. So, I suppose they came from the Australian distributor. I should have raised hell but I didn't it was a mistake from part, now is too late to cry about it. I hope I've learned something from the experience but cartridges are something that depending on whom you buy them from and the brand are always going to be a risky purchase.

It's very annoying to know the diamond is new and it's being wasted. I couldn't restrain myself and rotated it back once but happened again after a few minutes, the second attempt I squeezed/damage the cantilever. It is still in one piece but obviously there is no point in trying to use it. I suppose they didn't use sufficient glue between the cantilever and the coils and the whole cantilever may come off at any time.

 

Ahh makes sense...... these cartridges are getting so expensive these days that it is getting harder not to react, and get miffed when something fails immediately!

By the way I just made a note you are in Sydney - I never look at location and need to do a better job! Australia is still on the bucket list, have never been! Cheers.

 

By the way I still have not been able to locate the fallen diamond! -) Did a quick perusal with a bright flashlight, had someone with sharper eyes than mine look......... it's a goner.

I was going to snap a pic of it and the cartridge if I could find it just for fun.......... oh well, here is the cartidge only with an empty cantilever. Hope it is viewable, my camera isn't all that good and it was tough to snap. Plus, admittedly I am no photographer!!

 

Man that sucks.....yeah hopefully the authorized dealer will take care of you. You said you had asked the dealer about this type of issue months back....do you still have a copy of that ? If the dealer for whatever reason elects NOT to help you, a copy of that email shows you had concerns about this type of issue well before the actual issue ( therefore u were aware this does happen ).....and that pic should be good enough I would think.

 

If it was purchased new from an authorized dealer, you could send it in cold to A-T, there is a form on their website to print out and include, and they will (probably) replace the stylus assembly or the whole cart. Takes 2-3 weeks. From my experience.

 

Yes I do. I save everything! Plus already left the owner a voice mail, and referenced that email -- plus I recall it being a conversation with him before too about a month ago!!

Realize that prior mail / conversation was about a 150-MLX I bought from him, not the current OC9 being discussed

Realize also I bought a different OC9 months ago from this seller too that is working fine.

Takeaway -- either way you can see I am a repeat customer -- I have no worry about being taken care of -- just wanted to share with others that it happened, has been noted by others before, and it just happened again! This sort of thing is why we have forums, to share the good and the bad.

 

Yeah.....sounds like your track record of buying AT from them is quite solid so things should go in your favor.

 

You will have to have very sharp eyes or a good sniffer dog to find it in a carpet, it might still be hanging around the turntable. When you said it's been noted before do you refer to Audio Technica or boron cantilevers in general?

 

Well it's been a long time, it seems I didn't squeeze the cantilever but it ended up pointing towards one side like if the wrong antiskating was used. It doesn't look that bad and if I put my mind to it I might be able to fix it by adding more glue near the coils but that is something I am not likely to do. I didn't have a microscope at the time this is the first proper inspection since the disaster. There is plenty of factory glue though so I have no idea how it happened but in this photo you'll see the diamond in an angle.

 

Yikes. Any damage to your record? My biggest fear about something like this happening, because I assume seller and/or manufacturer will take care of me, is what a loose diamond bouncing around and a cantilever scraping directly around the grooves will do. Hopefully nothing too devastating!

 

LOL, funny you say that I have two beagles who hang out with me all day and night when home........ (best noses on the planet).

Unfortunately they'd have to get their lazy a$$es off the couch, and even still I don't have them that well trained to find a diamond for me! (hey, you just gave me an idea )

Yes, sadly I don't think I will ever spot it..... in the words of Hawk Harrelson "........ she gone!" (it's a baseball reference )

If you search the net, and even this forum I think, you will find others who had the diamond fall off their AT-150mlx. (of which I own two -- and now I feel like I need to test the second one that is still new in box that I bought a month ago!)

I never searched on the OC9 as far as this issue, only the 150mlx - I will go do that now -- but I was referring to AT, yes, and their boron cantilever --- it has happened before to others!

 

Namiki is most likely their supplier so it could be a bogus batch from the cantilever factory. Is the diamond nude shank or glued on this one?

 

That's the interesting thing. I was playing a Miles / Sonny Stitt LP (Live in Stockholm) -- when I started noticing halfway through some minor distortion / annoyance. (as I stated in the OP).

Thinking I had something under the styli, I pressed the cueing to lift the tonearm, turned off the LP, and unscrewed the removable headshell to take it over to the other side of the room where my bright light and loupe are (at another TT stand).

Mind you, until I lifted the tonearm with the cueing, the cartridge was playing music! By the time I looked at it under the loupe, there was no stylus! So, if it was playing music, that diamond was hanging on by the skin of its teeth apparently, and lifting it off must have separated.? Still kind of a mystery to me honestly the entire chain of events or where the stylus actually came off? Interesting though when I went back it was not on the vinyl, did not see it on the TT stand, etc. It was just *poof* which led me to think it fell when I was walking across the room? I just don't know.

LP is fine as far as I know, I should play it through once to make 100% sure --- note I did notice one or two pops which also prompted me to get up initially--- I thought at the time I had some new vinyl scratch but thinking about it now it could have been related to the diamond starting to come off.

 

Unless the c

I wasn't aware it was a common problem now it makes me worry more about buying expensive cartridges. I only had it happening to me once on an MM which I have no idea what it was but certainly not AT, much less boron. It may have been a SHURE which is what I tended to use in the 80's but it was already old, due for replacement and not that expensive anyway. I thought beagles were very active but I don't think they'll be good at finding a diamond.

 

I thought all that are attached to boron were glued, but could be wrong. Just like the AT-150MLX and AT33PTGii I own, which is also boron cantilever, microline --- it has a "glob" around the diamond which is the adhesive holding it I thought.

And yes, all past events pointed to the same thing - bogus adhesion at the factory.

 

I don't know if it was "common" only that it has happened before more than once and it was documented --- plus I am not trying to start a panic - nor deter you from enjoying nice cartridges

Like anything, **** happens - and like anything it is in the minority percentage-wise - if they were falling off at a high rate, there would be more press. But I know it happens --- again **** just has been know to happen!

The good thing about forums like this and posting A) it creates familiarity and educates at the possibility B) if others are experiencing, maybe they'll chime in -- and if it were a trend, we might find out others had an issue too!

 

808 - I know you own the PTG33ii - which like the OC9 is boron --- have you ever looked at the diamond and the adhesion under loupe (say 20x) or magnification?

 

The ptg/ii is the bird beak glue glob. My older ml/occ and 160ml are nude shank. I've never looked at my 150mlx

 

Right, just took a picture of mine with my phone, not very high quality but you can easily see the glue ...



There's a dealer in southern California on ebay (wreckordworld) who was selling the OC9/III for $400 (and OC9/II for $300 or below). They have since raised prices some, but was really tempting to get a OC9/III at that price. I wonder how much trouble it would be if something like this happened, guess that's a good reason to buy from a dealer you trust, and not just go for the best price. A lot of people call the OC9 series a bit clinical, without conveying the emotion some other cartridges do (a difficult specification to measure ), do any of you find that to be the case? Is the OC9 a cartridge that lets you really get lost in the music while listening?

 

Yea I saw the ebay listings too. I don't remember seeing that he was an authorized dealer ??? so if you had an issue you could be in for a big hassle.

 

Yup........ just like mine, and just like the OC9 that fell off here, and just like the 150MLX you haven't looked at (and has documented cases of it falling off too).

The first 150-MLX I got (which was before I got my PTG33ii), I actually had a moment of panic when I inspected the styli upon receipt, I thought for sure there was an issue as it was the first "bird beek glue blob" I had ever bothered to look up at up close and was certain it couldn't be right........

.,.. I am growing a little dislike for the glue type..... but only because I've had one now fall off!

 

Maybe it is just your pic, but the four or five I own with the glue blob all have the diamond protruding out more - your tip looks buried in the blob!

The guy on Ebay - $450 now for the ml3. He actually sold some ML3's for $300 and ML2's for $200 on bid auction when he started!!!! You can see them in the Sold Listings.

I sent a couple notes to him when they were $400 but never got up enough of a good feeling and his feedback at that point was so few as he was new.......