Cartridge Tip opinions wanted

IslandPink · Post by **IslandPink** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 3:31 pm

I spoke to Dominic a couple of years ago and he wasn't willing to do a standard re-tip of a 103 . He wanted me to spend £250 on an upgraded cantilever and fineline diamond . I've been down that route with Expert stylus a few years ago and didn't like the result.
Expert stylus ( not answering the phone when I tried earlier ) have done a standard diamond replacement on 103R in the past for me for about £120 , which is usefully less than the current best new price of a 103R which is about £180 to £190 .

Paul Barker · Post by **Paul Barker** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 4:09 pm

Good price. Might have gone up though?

IslandPink · Post by **IslandPink** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 4:12 pm

Well if they'd answer the phone, I might be able to find out !

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 6:53 pm

Paul Barker wrote:I think it was ES who did my dvxx1l the last time. IT dropped off in about a month, without a alot of use. I should have sent it back but it was years ago now.

Looking through the loop at what remains it was a bit of a mash up job.

Lost faith in the whole re-tip market at that time.

I had that problem with ES too.

Paul Barker · Post by **Paul Barker** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 7:25 pm

I think the finger was pointed back at me regarding how I had cleaned it.

I figure the guy who gets paid over £300 to glue a £10 diamond on an existing stick of Boron needs to be using a glue that isn't disolved by a little mild fluid.

Sure if I was dumb enough to clean it with acetone I would put my hands up to that.

OEM tips don't come flying off at such a fast pace after all. What happens is they either wear or your child mashes them across the record and smashes them off

When he isn't poking in the middle dust cap of your speaker.

IslandPink · Post by **IslandPink** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 7:55 pm

Been trying to convince Lenny to get interested in trying a simple re-tip of conical ( spherical)-tipped cartridges .
There must be a few quid in that , given how hard we are finding it to get work done.
He could do it if he bought some pieces of kit, I'm sure. He's got the background in precision engineering .

Paul Barker · Post by **Paul Barker** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:03 pm

He would be the man.

The hard part is not damaging the coils, or having to rewind coils.

I have a lovely Japanese Hiphonic worth £2,000 but has open circuit on one channel. Diamond and cantilever are perfect. but the coil would probably be the difficult bit.

As I am poor these days it sits awaiting either the funds to spare or the skills to be developed. I plan to practice on already damaged lesser cartridges and build up to it.

I already realise I could do it with my milling machine giving the fine control, under a microscope.

One day in a future year I may get such a project off the imagination into reality..

IslandPink · Post by **IslandPink** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:35 pm

I wouldn't want him to go inside and do anything to the coils - just change the diamond .

Paul Barker · Post by **Paul Barker** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:41 pm

Yes sure. Only thing is sometimes the suspension has gone and you have to delve deeper into the region which the coils are attached on. even to get down to that level is fraught with danger.

IslandPink · Post by **IslandPink** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:24 pm

Yes.
I just put the Dyna XX-2/II on the arm . It sounds 'HiFi'

If you look at the trace you can see the supsicious 'lift' from 15kHz to 20kHz . Probably a sign . Why are so few cartridges flat in the the upper HF ? The XX-1L is very good and pretty flat up there and it sounds a lot better . Ho hum ...

rowuk · Post by **rowuk** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:37 pm

IslandPink wrote:Yes.
I just put the Dyna XX-2/II on the arm . It sounds 'HiFi' If you look at the trace you can see the supsicious 'lift' from 15kHz to 20kHz . Probably a sign . Why are so few cartridges flat in the the upper HF ? The XX-1L is very good and pretty flat up there and it sounds a lot better . Ho hum ...

Wouldn't it be cool if we had the ability to match the cartridge response in the phono corrector to get the best balance. The cartridge is a resonant system (as is the arm, the record, the plinth) and could probably benefit greatly with a bit of synergy. On a valve phono corrector it is only one cap or resistor......

IslandPink · Post by **IslandPink** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:47 pm

I'm sure it is possible to do that ... assuming it were only an amplitude problem ...

Neal · Post by **Neal** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:54 am

IslandPink wrote:Re. Goldring -
I got this reply , after I asked for a re-tip on two 103R cartridges :

"Hi Mark,
Due to the constriction(sic) of this cartridge I cannot rebuild it.
Best Regards"

I'm not sure I understand that comment, but it's very frustrating .
I'll see if I can contact Expert Stylus on the phone today.
Even if i can't get them to do it for 3 months, at least I might be able to get it in a queue .

This makes no sense, they rebuilt a 103D of mine!

IslandPink · Post by **IslandPink** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 2:23 pm

Yes, I was quite taken-aback . I specifically asked just for the diamond to be changed .
When did you have this job done Neal - how recently ?

Neal · Post by **Neal** » Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:46 am

End of Feb this year!

Email David Giffin david DOT griffin AT armourhome co uk

audio-talk

Cartridge Tip opinions wanted

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