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Hi
I usually post at diy tube side. But I rarely do post here. But I had a real remarkable experience so I decided to ask some good folks here. Has anyone "upgraded" a stylus for a mc cart? I never heard of it before. A long story short, one of my relatives' kid was playing with my turntable and broke my Benz Gold cantilever. I sent it out to needleclinic in washington (not related). The owner who's name is andy highly recommended that i upgraded my stylus with "line contact" stylus.
I am so glad that i listened to him. The improvement, especially around midrange, is outstanding! With a set of altec stepup trans and cornet 2 set up, i am having a super bowl experience here. I am sure this is nothing new to many of you but it is to me. Can someone explain this strange phenomena?
Thanks,
Follow Ups:
I haven't done business with him (been a devoted Sound Smith guy the last two times).
Just curious...
Cheers,
Dman
Analog Junkie
yes, that's the clinic and the man! i've never met him or known him. but i did my research through audio asylum. AA is my go to site when i have questions. I've always had people responding to me even when i ask dummas questions:).So that's how i found the man. he did a great job.
Very little information on the site.What is the stylus profile? What is the cantilever material? What is the price? How long is the current turnaround?
Edits: 02/03/15
Hi Mel,
i guess it depends on the cart? I was going to retip my CS100. He was going to charge $80 but he told me that the stylus was in great condition. So i did not need to do anything. i thought his response was very honest and it raised my confidence. BTW, i learned that my mm cart stylus can be retipped! i am keeping my CS100 forever. I love it.
For my Benz retip was $150 and the upgrade was $250. For boron cantilever it would have been $350. But stayed with $250 upgrade and i am very happy with it.
He told me that there are different quality of line contact stylus and he uses the "top" quality.
The turn around time was 3 weeks on the dot.
i hope this helps.
He quoted me the following back in September:
$220 alloyed cantilever w/ HE elliptical
$450 boron cantilever w/ Line contact
$550 boron cantilever w/ Micro Ridge.
His turnaround is 2-3 weeks.
I remember reading those!
My thoughts then (and still are now); Good! There is someone else in the U.S. who can do this stuff! I don't wish any ill will on Peter The Sound Smith, but if something WERE to happen, it's just good to know there is an alternative!
Cheers,
Dman
Analog Junkie
HiIf the suspension hasn't been altered, then the tracking force should be close to the original recommendation.
In general, too light a tracking force is more likely to cause damage (because the stylus isn't following the groove under full control and therefore can bounce against the groove walls) than any -minimal- extra wear from a slightly higher force.
I'd caution against going below the manufacturer's recommended minimum in this case. Your Stanton will have a completely different suspension, designed for a much lower tracking force. This usually means higher compliance, so to run that cartridge at 1.8 grams would probably cause it to 'bottom out' when the stylus collapsed into the body. The recommended tracking force is part of the specification to which each of these cartridges will have been designed.
If in doubt I should ask your retipper whether he has changed the Benz's suspension.
Mark
Edits: 02/01/15 02/01/15
thanks! i am glad that i asked. i will be following the spec as it is...
Your discovery is not news on this board. My Shelter 501 was made better by a Soundsmith retip.More impressive perhaps is that relatively inexpensive Denons are being retipped for remarkable improvement--and made competitive with far more expensive cartridges.
Edits: 02/01/15
Hi
As the Benz Micro Gold has a fairly 'standard issue' elliptical stylus, the upgrade to a line contact has given your cartridge an extended contact vertically with the sides of the groove and a thinner contact line horizontally, which enables the tip to trace the fine detail more accurately. It may also be contacting a different area in the groove, avoiding any pre-existing record wear.
Good work by your re-tipper, who has clearly managed to retain the qualities of the original cartridge while improving the tip. The Gold is made for Benz in Japan to their specifications, I believe, and this result suggests it has a good moving-coil 'motor' crying out for a better stylus! All the more expensive Benz cartridges use advanced line-contact styli.
Many MC owners (like me) use the manufacturer's own exchange service, which gives one a new replacement at a reduced price. However, the retipping option is also often used, and can represent an upgrade to the old cartridge's performance, as you've found.
It's probably the only option where a cartridge is no longer made, but is riskier when the cartridge is very high-end because it's more difficult to replicate the performance. Many owners of these rare beasts choose their favoured model because the sound has a certain 'character' they love, and this can be lost when the cartridge is retipped, even if the new tip is technically 'better'.
HTH
Mark
Mark, thanks for the reply. your explanation makes perfect sense to me. it's so amazing to me how a person like you possess such wealth of knowledge. While i am at it please allow me to ask another question. Would the upgraded stylus and cantilever change the tracking force of the cart? The Gold's recommended tracking force is 1.8-2.2g. And i always felt that was too high. For example, my stanton cs-100's (AKA WOS) recommended tracking force without the brush is at 1g. And it tracks like the st Bernard. So, i've been experimenting. At 1.5g, the Gold seems to be doing fine. May be i can lower it to 1.2?
Thank you again,
TIMP
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