Can Sound-Smith tip sound as good as original?

Buconero117: Do you have personal experience with Sound-Smith retips? Could you please elaborate?

Thanks

Thanks everyone. Well I have no choice but to get the cantilever replaced because I purchased it bent. Raul has said that he had his Virtuoso cantilever replaced with the standard aluminum one from Sound Smith and it sounds almost the same. I'm considering upgrading to the ruby cantilever, just to be sure I get the same level of performance as the original cantilever.

Jcarr, thanks for the great information. That's all news to me, and is definitely good to know. I'm not sure as to whether or not Sound-Smith changes the damper materials when preforming a cantilever upgrade, but I venture to guess that they do not.

I've read several testimonials from Sound-Smith's website about people who have upgraded their cartridges (most of them expensive MC carts) to a ruby cantilever and liked the results. As to whether or not I would enjoy those results personally with my Virtuoso cart, I do not know. It would be horrible to spend that money, having to wait 10 weeks for the rebuild (I'm told that's how long the wait is right now), only to remount the thing and find out I don't enjoy the new sound.

However, I do believe that both the original stock cantilever and the Sound-Smith aluminum cantilever both have an elliptical diamond stylus. So when looking at both the cantilever material and the stylus profile, that option from Sound-Smith appears to be the closest to the manufacturer's specs.

Raul, just so I understand you clearly, you are saying that on a cartridge such as the Clearaudio Virtuoso, a retip job from a company like Sound-Smith is acceptable, but when you get to cartridges in the $2000+ range, it would be better to get a retip from the manufacturer? I mean I love the way this Virtuoso sounds right now, but the cantilever is slightly bent and I need to get it replaced so as not to cause damage to my records. It's also nearly impossible to properly setup a cart with a bent cantilever. However, I would be very disappointed if my rebuild from Sound-Smith sounded worse than how it sounds right now.

I'd like to hear from someone who has upgraded their Virtuoso to the ruby cantilever from Sound-Smith, because that is the option I am considering. But Raul, I understand that you have had your Virtuoso rebuilt by Sound-Smith, and from what you said, it sounds almost identical to the original stylus. Am I correct?