Possible stylus damage to my DenonDL103


I screwed up! I was wiping some dust off the surface of my Rega and the cloth must have caught the tip of the needle on my new DL103 and bent the cantilever to one side. With my fingernail I pushed it back towards straight but not enough. I need advice. Can it be straightened or can just the needle be replaced or am I out of luck? It only had two hours on it.
solarcarl
You might try aligning the arm relative to the stylus (i.e., not straight in the headshell) and see how it sounds. At least the spherical-stylus DL-103 is less critical than carts with elliptical styli. I wouldn't try to straighten it further -- you've been lucky so far (I know, doesn't feel that way). At least you can a new one delivered for under $200. Good luck, Dave
Unfortuately your cartridge won't deliver optimum performance once the cantilever has been damaged. Even if the cantilever is bent back to position and appears undamaged, who knows how the coils on the other end are now positioned in the magnetic field.
Do yourself a favour and throw away that record cleaning cloth - they are an accident waiting to happen. I know, I've done the same thing some 25yrs ago. For basic dusting, get a carbon fibre brush.
Dear Solarcarl: Tobes is right on target: you have to send your 103 to Denon for a new catilever/stylus, there is no other option.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
Yeah, it's done. When the same thing happened to me,[103r, actually] I ordered another one from Audio Cubes, and sent the old one to Van den Hul for a retip. That way you have a spare, and can compare the two.

As far as I know, Denon does not offer a retip service.