Recent retip(canti also) Dude where did my soundstage width go

If your setup is right, and that will change as the cart breaks in, you might want to get the Cardas album with the burn in groove and let the cart break in without having to endure the pain of listening to it, nothing is more painful as breaking in a cart, tube amps or dacs, I would rather take a beating. Yes the Soundsmith rebuilds do require a breakin. Plus the Cardas album also has  several tracks that degauss your complete system.

Azimuth? Azimuth affects channel separation.

Hey Thanks ya'll. I'm still learning about set up and how precise it needs to be. I'm using a Feikert and a Fozgometer. I was getting strange readings with insane azimuth adjustments that were clearly not right. I realized then how sensitive the alignment of cantilever needs to be.n That was a revelation. The lines on the Feikert are decent but when your talking about movements the width of a silk thread or smaller it's little better than ballpark. It was using the Foz that strangely caused me to question alignment with the initial absurd readings.  Sensitive and great tool. It's probably still not as good as it can be. I've gone through set up it twice now and I'm done for now. Channel balance/azimuth is within a couple ticks on the Foz. I look forward to getting the Mint. Still the issue remains with the width. I'll continue letting it break in. It's a tortuous but interesting process. My toe is tapping though a bit more now. It's really recording dependent. My Grado really made almost everything sound good with a big old soundstage although it glossed over some detail Im finding out. 

It will never sound the same. Honestly I just don't get the act of changing out the cantilever and stylus to something else. Once the cartridge wears out, replace it with another one, unless it has a replaceable stylus.

If one can afford expensive toys to play with the first time, they should be able to afford a replacement no questions asked. 

Well, your assuming I can't or that just because somebody goes the route I have they can't. Thats quite a leap. I like to tweak what I have getting the most out I can and this goes for other things in life also. Not to knock anybody else's consumer consumption.  I really like my cart and if this baby doesn't open up more I will replace it with exactly the same one and chock it up to a valuable learning experience. Peace out invictus.