Andy Kim - Needle Clinic

Just had fantastic interaction with Andy Kim and Needle Clinic. I sent him a Sumiko Songbird for re-tipping and it came back sounding significantly better than the original. He also completed the work and shipped the cartridge back to me the same day he received it. Oh, and you can reach him by phone, which was great because he convinced me I could re-install the cartridge myself vs. taking it to the stereo shop. Could not recommend Andy more highly.

Andy replaced the stylus on my 20+ year old Linn Arkiv.  It now sounds fabulous--much better in every way.  He was also very helpful to me.  I had a difficult time removing the cartridge from the Linn tone arm and was concerned about damage I might cause putting the "new" cartridge back in.  I brought it to Andy and he did it for me.  I can't recommend Andy enough.  

Andy replaced the stylus on my 20+ year old Linn Arkiv in one day.  It now sounds fabulous--much better in every way.  He was also very helpful to me.  I had a difficult time removing the cartridge from the Linn tone arm and was concerned about damage I might cause putting the "new" cartridge back in.  I brought it to Andy and he did it for me.  I can't recommend Andy enough.  

I just received back the Benz Ebony L I sent to Andy.  It was back within a week after I sent it including two cross country trips.  It sounds better than before and the price was quite reasonable.  Fantastic service from Andy!

I have used Andy's service twice.  The first was retipping my Accuphase AC3 in 2018 with micro ridge nude diamond.  The second time is my Highphonic MC-A6 last week with same type of tip/cantilever.  Both cartridges show sound improvements over the original, very fine high end and in great detail.  

I highly recommend Andy to everyone for cartridge repair/retip.

Frank

I just had my Winfield cart retipped by Soundsmith.  Quick turn around, excellent sound. 

I recently had my Ortofon Bronze retipped by Andy. Everything about the experience was outstanding. Amazing quick turnaround and the cart sounds phenomenal. 

I damaged the stylus on my Dyna 20XXL. Andy replaced the damaged stock stylus with a new microridge-that was 4 years ago and its still sounding better than the original on my Amadeus Mk2. The replacement made a positive impact on detail and even more so on channel separation. He completed the work quickly and communicated well throughout  the process. Highly recommended. The community is lucky to have Andy as a resource. 

Just had Andy repair my Rega Apheta 3. He re-tipped it with a micro ridge nude stylus boron. Sounds fantastic - a significant upgrade over how it sounded before. He also did the repair in record time and was great to work with. I highly recommend him.

Kim did subpar work on a cart for me, and when I sent a photo showing an obviously crooked cantilever he responded with a ridiculous word salad instead of just saying what he should have said" "I'm sorry. Send it back and I'll make it right." After a bit of back and forth I decided to send it elsewhere because I was getting a real strong vibe that he was going to spit into my soup, if you know what I mean.

Based on everything I've read about Kim, on Audiogon and elsewhere, your odds of getting a job well done are pretty good, but there's also a chance you'll get hosed.

The work I've had done by Soundsmith, VAS and Joseph Long was all done correctly the first time.

I purchased a  modified/retipped Denon 103 cartridge from Andy this July and I'm extremely happy with both the sound and the experience. Andy was great to deal with and my system sounds the best it ever has. 

Thanks Andy 

@viridian...lol!  Took me sec to get it, but that's clever! 

i acquired a Hana ML last year during a sale and was very happy with it. unfortunately during a recent visit by a friend, we had an accident and the cantilever became bent/askew.

i contacted Andy at Needle Clinic and he was very quick to respond. he was about to embark on travel, but provided me exact dates and was even willing to accommodate me before he left for his trip if i expedited shipping to him.

not being in a hurry as i had a back up cart (a NOS Denon 103 LCII), i was okay waiting for him to return. i shopped out a couple of days before he returned, so he received it when he came back. within a day or so of his receiving it, he wrote to me that the cat was all set and ready to ship. he had replaced the bent cantilever with a micro ridge nude stylus boron cantilever. the entire process from me shipping it out to receiving it back took about 9 days (i have waited months and months for Soundsmith back in the day to do this).

upon receipt, i mounted it on my rig and immediately notice greater detail and depth - a more pronounced sound stage. i’m sure it can only get better as it gets broken in.

highly recommend Andy Kim at Needle Clinic.

I’m pleased to report an amazing experience with Andy Kim at Needle Clinic. Andy replaced the bent cantilever on my 6 month old Hana ML with a boron/mircro ridge. 

He replied immediately to my email with a price quote, and he did the repair on the same day he received the cartridge - December 24. He communicated very well and shipped it back to me the same day.  I would have had it on December 26 if someone had been home to sign for the package.  I picked it up at the post office on December 27 and it’s now back in its rightful place on my Rega P8. 
 

It sounds fantastic. Andy claims it sounds as good or better as the $2,500 Unami Blue, which makes sense because the Blue has the same engine and a boron cantilever/micro line stylus. Only the outer case should be different with this ML mod.  It sounds more detailed than I remember the ML. It was a bit jarring at first but I’m getting used to it and just loving the depth, soundstage and instrument separation. 
 

This was an A+ experience. Thank you Andy!

Equipment:

Rega P8

Hana ML modded with boron/MR stylus by Needle Clinic

ifi iPhono3 Black phono stage

Akitika PR-102 Preamp

Akitika GT-104 Amp

Emotiva T1+ speakers/Hifiman Arya Stealth headphones

I've had my Grado Opus3 wood body cartridge for about 2.5 years now--a bit of a splurge at the time at $275, but money well spent!  Since then, I've put over 1000 hours on the stylus.  It still sounded as good as the day I released it from its expertly crafted wooden box, but thought it was time for a new stylus just to be safe to not damage my vinyl and to possibly improve the sound.

After searching for options, I went with Andy Kim.  I live just a few hours north of his location.  That and his reported quick turnaround time made it an easy decision.  After some emails with Andy, I went with the top-of-the-line, boron/microridge option.  Andy's fast service is no joke--the cartridge arrived at his place in a couple days, and he emailed me that night that it was done.  Shipping plus the repair took about a week.

My system is very modest right now, running the Grado on a Fluance RT81 (soon to possibly be a Dual 1229 once it's repaired and there is no hum) into a Schiit Mani 2 preamp, to a Monoprice hybrid tube amp and ending with a pair of Original Advent Loudspeakers.  

The upgrade has opened up the top end of the music spectrum.  The original Opus3 was no slouch, but I hear a much more airy and open sound, along with incredible mids and bass.  The noise floor is much lower, and tracking is phenomenal.  Tracks on the inner groove that got a bit rough are smooth and clear.  I'm using the Löfgren B arc protractor and have an LP Gear head shell that lets me adjust azimuth.  I'm sure I'll need to tweak it a bit as I listen more, but it is sounding amazing right now with just a few hours of listening time.  I'm sure some more break in time will continue to open up the sound.

All in all, a very successful upgrade, both for the sonic results and the experience Andy Kim offered.  If you have an Opus3 and the means to do so, I fully recommend getting this upgrade.  So far, I do not regret it!