Anybody out there re-cantilever their cartridge with a Soundsmith Contact Line diamond ?

For anyone who continually posting that all cantilevers are the same and comes from the same manufacturers, please show me a Boron cantilever like this one designed and patended by ZYX for their Airy, Premium 4D and related expensive models. I’m tired to post this example, but this is in fact a unique cantilever construction and none of the vendors can do the same, they does not have access to this cantilever type.

As for the vintage types of the cantilever i must say they are all different, there are many of them, they are not the same and made individually for specific cartridge designer. Even aluminum cantilevers are all different. Even when you change one Boron to another Boron they are not the same. Ruby, Diamond, Beryllium are also different, there are many different Ruby, different Beryllium, different Diamond cantilevers. And the diamonds are also completely different. So you have no idea what a retipper will use as an alternative even if the type of cantilever (or stylus profile) is the same as the original. Especially if the original cantilever was made 35 years ago and replaced to something made today. I’ve checked maybe more than 50 top cartridges from the 70s/80s (and some new carts too) under macro lens and took a pictures of each of them. Different manufacturer have been using different cantilevers and different diamonds.

Retippers normally limited to one of each type, no more (made today).
Some cheaper retippers can use donors (parts replaced from used cartridges).

Always buy an originals, don't bother with the crap

Good luck

Dear chakster, I know that you are very fond of those '''hollow''
boron tubes or cantilevers. But how many do you like? As you can
see on your own picture there is one extra tube on your ZYX in
which the stylus is glued. What one does not see is the extra
aluminum ''tube'' on which the coils are fastened and in which
the cantilever/stylus combo is glued. The so called ''join pipe''.
When I posted my sample to Axel he installed an new boron
cantilever and his ''nude Shibata'' instead of this ''remarkable''
ZYX cantilever. Why do you think that this way of installing the
stylus is better than usual? Or, to put this otherwise, why is one
extra tube necessary? When this stylus is wear off the new
stylus can't be glued instead. So the whole new cantilever/stylus
combo will be needed which is much more expensive than stylus
only exchange. Or so I think because of my own experience. 
BTW what I admire in Axel's work is his persistence to do his
job. As I wrote in my ''irreparable carts'' thread those glued 
together plastic bodies have no ''entrance'' possibility to their 
inside parts. How then should an ''retipper'' fix, say, the damping
 or the coils of such cart? Axel cut and drilled the body to get
inside. I don't believe other retipper will even try to do this.
BTW he was not able to fix this way my Sony XL 88 D. 
This Sony was of the same ''plastic glued together body''.

Interesting thread... :)My take on this is that, sure - if you have your cartridge rebuild by SoundSmith or someone else with similar rebuild-offering, the cartridge will not come back as being the same as the original and it will not sound the same as the original. This may not automatically be a bad thing, it can be a good thing, the cartridge may sound better than original - especially if you have an older cartridge with a simple cantilever and stylus. This way the service offering by Soundsmith etc can be less expensive than buying a new cartridge. 
But if you have a more exotic cartridge, like the Lyra etc or an exclusive Zyx, then this may not be such a good idea because Soundsmith etc. can't rebuild it to original status. You may or may not like the result. It can be a disaster. 
But for simpler and less exotic cartridges, common ones like Denon DL-103, 110/160, Dynavector 10x5 or 10x20, Sumiko BPS etc, a rebuild by SoundSmith may be a great solution and can also be an upgrade. 

chakster,  I just sent and old Lyra to Soundsmith for a retip. Are you saying I can get a better sounding cartridge for $450 than I will get back from Soundsmith? I understand it will not sound identical the original, but I expect it will sound great. Why wouldn't I do this?

@jsbail

Are you saying I can get a better sounding cartridge for $450 than I will get back from Soundsmith? I understand it will not sound identical the original, but I expect it will sound great. Why wouldn’t I do this?

This is the reason why i don’t understand people who buy LOMC cartridges from one manufacturer to rebuild them with a third party vendor. The logic behind this process is what i don’t understand. Lyra cartridge designer himself explained everything about it right on this forum.

The question is why do you need Lyra cartridge if you ended up with SoundSmith / Lyra hybrid ?

Why not just buy a SoundSmith cartridge instead ?
or another original Lyra cartridge if they can’t help you with your Lyra ?

Or why do you think a Lyra refurbished by SoundSmith is any better than original Lyra ?

If you think so why do you think you can’t find another cartridge that can be better than Lyra or Soundsmith ?

And yes, you can find a great NOS cartridges for $450-700, it can be very nice MM/MI or even LOMC

If you like LOMC i clearly remember what i paid for my NOS Dynavector Karat 23RS MR Ruby (Micro Ridge) sealed in the box, it was no more than $450 and it is a very nice LOMC in my opinion.