Not to go off track from this post, but this relatively recent article adds to the discussion of the cantilever/mass and what Peter (Retipper) has discussed about a benefit of his moving iron (MI) cartridges - "Vibration analysis of stylus instrument for random surface measurement", available http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/5705/. While Peter uses the term ’Jitter’, the article uses the term ’Tip Flight’, but the result is the same. While the article is not specific to a vinyl record, the correlation is unmistakable. This article does present that the optimum damping ratio is 0.5 to 0.7, and this would then support Peter’s claim to the benefit of the lower mass of the MI design; less mass means less work required to damp the mechanism.
Otherwise I am fan of Soundsmith MI cartridges beyond the performance, the benefit of being able to rebuild the cartridge - not just retip, but replacing the critical suspension system all at nominal cost is a significant benefit.
Right. And nothing off-track about it. OP said, "The sound? Dead quiet." And this is the reason why the sound is dead quiet. Less mass, more damped, equals less stylus bouncing around means less noise equals dead quiet.
This also answers the question:
Why should one retiper in an factory be better than the usual kind?
Because clearly we are not talking merely about a re-tip. We are not even talking about "the usual kind" (whatever that is) of re-tipper. We are talking about Peter Ledermann, a man who has spent 40+ years not merely re-tipping and refurbishing and designing and building cartridges, but studying every aspect of their performance to the point he has developed knowledge and understanding of things like jitter that is able to make even a relatively affordable cartridge "dead quiet".
thehorn made a smart move going with Peter. One of the Greats. Enjoy!