Soundsmith does top notch work. If I were in your situation, I would contact Peter at soundsmith to see if he could repair it. I am almost certain he could. It all comes down to how much money do you want to spend. If it bothers you that the replacement cantilever won't be OEM then, you need to send it back to the manufacturer. Contact soundsmith and see what they say. Best re-tips in the business |
That's unfortunate. I was just looking at the Needle Doctor site and it appears that what they are calling a "retip" is actually a cartridge exchange. You send them $1500 and they send you a new cart. You then send your old one back to them. If you're really in love with that cartridge, that seems like the best option. Clearaudio makes some decent MM carts for a lot less money, but you probably won't be satisfied and end up spending more down the road. Best of luck. |
Asindc, sorry about your carty mishap. Your tale is exactly what I talked about in another OP about super high end carties. It's a heart-break when a carty breaks; but from what I've read, and based on my own experience, the stylus in most carties have a top life span of 2000 hours. If you use your vinyl gear as much as I do, that might be 12-18 months and then it's retip time. So one way or the other, sooner or later, you'll be laying out big bucks.
Btw, there's a couple of folks on the Gon who own and swear by the Benz LPS. That carty costs $5K new. Think about the heart-ache if that carty breaks or just wears out.
I recently started an OP about Peter Ledermann at Soundsmith. I just had my trusty "mid-fi" SS Zephyr retipped for a song, more a tune. And I'm back in business.
My suggestion is that us LP spinners be more practical about the cost of breakage and normal wear. I believe that some of the Soundsmith higher end carties come with either life-time free or reduced price retip charges. That makes a lot of sense to me. Perhaps there are other high-end carties that come with similar retip/repair arrangements??
Hope you work something out that doesn't break the bank. |
There's also the possibility that the Soundsmith cantilever repair is *better* than the OEM. |
While I'm not familiar at all with his prices , I'm pretty sure that van den hul uses boron for cantilevers, the same material you had. It might be worth giving him a call , his work certainly speaks for itself as well. Just another option to try. Soundsmith is the first name that came to my mind too though. |
If the cantilever of your Concerto is aluminum I can recommend Axel with his pressure fitted line contact stylus in a aluminum cantilever. This is his 'best proposition' in terms of quality-price relationship (+/- 160 Euro). With the boron cantilever the cost rise to 359 Euro. Info : schallplattennadeln.de |
'giving him (vd Hul)a call'? If he is his (vd Hul's)suster she may succeed. This guy has no idea what he is talking about. But he was obviously in the shop ,for which no one in Holland knows where it is, and observed just one kind of the cantilevers: the boron kind. Bravo! |
Actually , I downloaded the faq pdf recently from vdh's site where he answered quite a few questions, many having to do with broken cartridges. He also spoke of the material he prefers to use, boron being his first choice for cantilevers. As far as calling him goes, if "he" can't be reached "them" by extension ( as a company or dealer of vdh) would most certainly be implied. Pricing wasn't mentioned in the 120 or so question I did read; however thank you for taking the time out of your mundane life to waste mine though. |
There is this dogged illusion or myth that Van den Hul does
all the work by himself. At present he spend most of his
time in Ukraine were he is involved in aircraft industry.
Involved with his cable company. Nobody knows how
many people work in his cart-repair shop. Even we
in Holland can only approach his repair service via dealers.
But why should I pay for this added 'service' which is actually
a hatch and catch intermediary? BTW I have no idea if
he has a suster but only assume that if he had one
she would be probable in the position to give him a call.
BTW his own P&R about himself is impressive but when you
tell to have just one evening a week to mess with carts or that you just spend 6 months in Ukraine for this impressive contribution to their aircraft industry everyone can deduce how much time he can spend for the carts. |
It's a sign from God.
Go to No. 5 |
So getting a cartridge repaired by vdh himself is more than likely not remotely possible, he charges a premium to use his name and the work is likely less than adequate for the price payed. Is that the general idea? My apologies for being ignorant of all this, I was trying to help |
Dear Syntax, There are infinitely many signs from God but
what is No.5? |
If you want the master himself to do the jobe contact Jan
Allaerts. He is the only one who does all the work himself.
If one look at this small plate of 2x2 mm on which
all those wire are wounded I am sure nobody will envy the guy.
I myself would prefer the voluntary death above such kind of work. |
Or just go to Sound Smith and have the work performed by them. |
You won't be dissapointed in the work soundsmith does. They are very easy to contact and talk to someone. They also have a quick turnaround time. |
