New cartridge vs. Re-tipped

@chayro @dogberry @mulveling 

Thanks for your feedback. I’ve only heard great things about Joseph Long and mixed reviews about VAS, so I’ll stand with what I said before in considering the former and avoiding the latter.

I've also heard good things about Allclear Audio, but I'd like to avoid shipping to/from Australia.

Hi everyone, can somebody here please remind me of the Asian gentleman I think in Washington state that rebuilds/retips cartridges? I have an old Denon 103 that needs work.

many thanks!

Dave

You are thinking of Andy Kim, who is now in California.  I've had him retip a few carts, including a Zu Denon DL-103.  It was damaged when I bought it (came with a turntable I bought), so I don't know how much better it was than when stock, but after he worked his magic, it's very close to my Dyanvector XV-1S and van den Hul Crimson XGW Stradivarius, both of which retail for over $5K.  His turnaround is very fast also.

Great experience with Andy Kim, highly recommended

+1 Andy Kim. He upgraded my DL 103. Highly recommended.

@jcarr  Would you be kind enough to share with us what wears out on a cartridge besides the diamond? I imagine the damper and those types of materials would. What about the tensioning mechanism or the yoke assembly? When does this wear typically show up in relation to hours of use? 

With Lyra retipped cartridges the internals are all disposed of then when a cartridge is refurbished for a customer? 

Thanks for any info you would be able to pass on.