Cart refurb

I have a Super that needs a new tip. Any recs for someone to do the work?

David at goldring does a good job

Dave Giffin at Goldring :+1:

Edit: @stu beat me to it!

I’ll drop him a line, cheers.

If that doesn’t work out I’ve always been happy with Roberto Torlai in Italy. He’s refettled Benz, Koetsu & Transfiguration for me.

Looks like the supex can’t be repaired beyond a re tip… Bugger.

Just found this.

Worldwide List of Phono Cartridge Retippers and Rebuilders

02-08-2019, 02:08 PM

This is a follow-up to Bill’s post seen here: https://www.audionirvana.org/forum/t…der-cartridges

View it as a running list, feel free to add to it. there are a few guys in Russia (Roman & Dimitri) and another guy in Hungary that are not on the list because they have no web presence, don’t advertise their services, etc. When I get the green light i’ll post their contact info here.

Expert Stylus Repair (Wyndham Hodgson) are UK based and offer complete rebuilds. Contrary to what ive read the lead times aren’t too lengthy, I don’t think I’ve waited more than 45-60 days from mailing my cart to the UK and having it back in the US of A. These are the guys to send your Linn Troika to, classic Supex (Koetsu) and literally anything other cart retippers/rebuilders wont touch. No web presence, email only: nfo@expertstylus.co.uk

Northwest Analogue are UK based and offer extensive rebuild services including rewinding coils, etc. I have not used them but heard one of their rebuilt Koetsus and it was excellent, the craftsmanship looked top-notch too.

Andy Kim aka The Needle Clinic. Andy has repaired a Koetsu Rosewood (missing cantilever) and Linn Karma for me. Turnaround was quick and the price fair, both carts went on to new owners and are still running strong.
http://www.phonocartridgeretipping.com/index.html

Holistic is in the Netherlands and has a great rep, I don’t have direct experience but another collector-friend I know has two carts done by them and loves the result.
http://holisticaudio.nl/services.html

Peter Ledermann , best known and recommended retipper in the US. Peter is a fountain of knowledge on all things audio, id love to someday visit his lab and soak it all in.
https://www.sound-smith.com/services/cartridge-rebuilding-retipping

Steve Leung of VAS NOVA fame. see Bill Harts other post and review at The Vinyl Press
https://vasnyinc.com/repair-service/

Garrott Bros . are Australian based and also mfr MC carts. They’re well known for modifying DECCA carts back in the day. I owned one of their modded carts but not used their rebuild/retip service
https://garrottbrothers.com/repairs-retipping
Ken Kessler on Garrott: https://www.kenkessler.com/hi-fi/gar…cca-cartridge/

AJ Van den Hul - his reputation precedes him, one of the best retippers. ive owned a retiped Koetsu, VdH and Benz carts that AJ did and they all performed as expected.
https://www.vandenhul.com/product/cartridge-repair-modification-re-tipping-available-services/

Goldring is UK based and a well known mfr of MC and MM carts. They also repair/retip other makes.
https://www.goldring.co.uk/goldring-cartridge-repair-refurbishment

Ana Mighty is based in France and offer repair and retipping services.
http://anamightysound.com/cat/cartridge-retipping/

Len Gregory aka The Cartridgeman is in the UK, they have their own bespoke line of carts and offer retipping rservies.
http://www.thecartridgeman.com/

John Wright aka J. Wright Audio Services, UK based DECCA cartridge guru. Perhaps the first place to look to rebuild your DECCA
http://www.london-cartridges.co.uk/

Roberto Torlai is in Italy and a cartridge builder as well as re-builder, I never used him but his reputation is well established.
http://www.torlai.it/

AudioSilente this co was brought to my attention, also based in Italy.
http://www.audiosilente.com/riparazi…a-testine.html

JFS Tonabnehmer German based retipper, known for B&O carts but they work on all brands.


Axel Schürholz (now retired) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57sDQ7eiS00

West-tech are a US based rebuilders of vintage American carts.
http://www.west-techservices.com/p1.htm

Jilco and Namiki are among a few suppliers of styli and cartridge components in Japan and aren’t retippers per se, however I have a cart that was purportedly retipped by Namiki. Japanese cos. tend to be mercurial and not easy to establish a relationship with. even my ex who was fluent in Japanese got the brush off when she made inquiries on my behalf.
https://www.jico-stylus.com/
https://www.ad-na.com/en/product/jew…ct/record.html

7 Likes

Thanks for that - very useful

Looks like I can get the supex re tipped, but the cart construction prevents a full re build. The cantilever is slightly offset, this happens over time, it sounded good before the stylus let go. So a re tip only it is with no warranty on the cart, just the re tip.

image

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image

That good?

Thinking of having my Shelter 5000 retipped. Looking at the UK options above it looks like a choice of Northwest Analogue, Expert Stylus or Goldring. Anyone else used any of these?

https://www.audionirvana.org/forum/the-audio-vault/analog-playback/cartridges/107908-worldwide-list-of-phono-cartridge-retippers-and-rebuilders

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/third-party-services-phono-cartridge-retip-refurbish-rebuild-se?__cf_chl_tk=RIgmspG88m8E260XVlSla_h2uyHwzb_70yTlBKhEeiQ-1716731435-0.0.1.1-1770

Same question from me for Transfiguration Temper V (worn), and Koetsu Black, snapped cantilever.

I suspect Goldring for the latter as I think they have decent rep with Koetsu.

David at Goldring is a second generation cartridge maker - Thing is he won’t bond new styli - It’s new cantilever (Which may also result in new coils too) This will change the character of the cart. Expert Stylus are again two generations into the game - They may well bond a tip - Northwest analogue doesn’t have the same pedigree / machinery etc etc.

It will depend on if he can extract the broken cantilever safely. Also if it’s an old one a new damper.

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Useful to know, thanks @Ruprecht

Might just stay its box until even a broken black has decent resale value.

Due to persnickety Koetsuman ‘needs’ you will never find a refurber who will meet everyones criteria. The closest on the list in terms of adding value is Expert although they will suggest a fine line which will change the sound somewhat.

I have filled out the Goldring online form on several occasions but have never received a reply. A friend told me that he read online somewhere that they are no longer doing this work. I’m not sure how true that is.

I was very happy with the service I received from Expert who re-tipped my Kiseki PH. Communications were good and they observed the indicated timescales. I thought the cartridge came back sounding better than ever.

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