Re-tipped stylus vs original manufacturer


How does a re-tipped stylus from, say Soundsmith or others compare to original manufacturer equipment. Assuming the stylus tip is identical and so is the material of the cantilever. I am looking at a Koetsu Black in the market with a stylus re-tipped by Soundsmith. I would think that if the re-tipped is identical, then the sound should be similar to OEM if the body and coil stays original but I could be wrong. Opinions please.

sidvicious88

Showing 1 response by mulveling

It is the opinion of a knowledgeable friend of mine that Koetsu just sends you a new cartridge.

I’ve had a couple Koetsu stones rebuilt. They definitely reuse the old body and (usually?) the magnet. Everything else (armature, coils, damper, suspension, yoke, cantilever & stylus) is newly built. And they do a great job of it! Consistently great results. Maybe on the "Black" model they replace with a new one, but I couldn’t speak to that.

I believe Ortofon also takes this approach, though I haven’t had one rebuilt yet. Their info site on rebuilds used to warn that your body could come back with scratches from the work.

In both cases the "full rebuild" runs around 50% of a new model, sometimes a bit less. Koetsu won't penalize you for having the premium stones - rebuild cost is the same for any stone, though the diamond cantilever upgrade is quite costly if you opt for that.