Andy Kim - Needle Clinic

Greetings from Mexico City.

I just got my cartridges back from Andy, a very nice and helpful guy, with the fastest turnaround time: 1 day, can't beat that.

I sent him two cartridges: a Shelter 901 (previously Soundsmithed to a ruby cantilever) and an Ortofon OM40 Gold. I didn't know MMs could be retipped, go figure!!!

I'm impressed with the results, they sound so good now, way above their league. Andy states that a proper retipping (a proper stylus-cantilever setup) is very very important, even more critical than the cartridge itself. I believe him now.

Both were upgraded to boron/microridge and I clearly noticed the following from the very start: less congestion in loud passages, truer timbre, no distortion at the beginning and end of the record sides, little to no stress in loud vocals, far more detail, less friction noise, a better sense of each element's surroundings.

The Shelter is now more like a brand new 4-5 KUSD cartridge (think Koetsus, Lyras, Clearaudios). Piano and strings' long notes are more stable, with clear decays. The microridge adds a syrup coat between the stylus and the record that makes voices transparent, sweeter, more present and nothing spitty. I have a couple of very demanding japanese pressings that have caused trouble in the past, but not now, the boron handles them in spades. There is also more life in the sound. Some defects I associated with vinyl as a media, are now gone. Records I've been spinning endlessly for 40 years come alive like never before.

The Ortofon is close to the Shelter, which is saying a lot, considering it's way below the Shelter's price. The Shelter is a bit more refined, nothing more.

I am glad I found Andy, thanks for the good work, keep it up.

Another very informative report on the impact a Third Party Cartridge Service can have on a first impression of a returned Cart', either Serviced or Modified.

As stated in previous posts, A Time Served Technician who has a acquired a substantial understanding of a Cart's Assembly and has the inherent skills to optimise the Tolerances for the interfaces that might not be as exact at the time of Manufacture can produce a Cart' that will standout as a returned item.

Add to the assembly exchange parts that are improved as a result of their inherent mechanical properties and the Cart' in general finds a different level of performance.

There is little to be seen that suggests using this type of Service is not beneficial and not good value for money.

I will assume the 901 was approx' $1700 when purchased. If there was a 1000 Hours of usage prior to the recent overhaul, the Cart' has been a $1.70 per hour model.

I assume the Overhaul is $500ish, at present there is assumed to be $2200 invested into the Cart'.

If another 1000 Hours of usage are successfully delivered the Cart' has been a $1.10 per hour model.

Do this revisit to Andy Kim once more and the potential if the 1000 hours of usage is achieved, is a Cart' that will have offered up 3000 Hours of Service at $00.90 per hour. 

Great VFM comes to mind.  

Howdy,

Used Andy Kim's services and had a Grado Gold re-tipped due to an unexpected altercation between my kid and the cartridge, the cartridge lost.

After choking over repair costs, trusted Andy to fix my cartridge. 

I am no longer complaining over the costs, holy cow it was worth the price.  The Mirco Line Nude Boron is truly incredible.  My wife noticed a difference!

Andy was great to work with, tremendously communicative, and quick,

Andy is a true retipper, it's evident he is qualified and flipping good at his job!  

Thanks Andy

Another one of Andy Kim's happy customers here...he did me right. I'm hearing new facets of music I've listened to my whole life after getting my stylus re-tipped. Cheers, Andy.

I'd like to share my positive experience with Andy Kim. My Ortofon A90 was in need of a retip/rebuild as it had developed a noisy channel. Ortofon does offer a "rebuild/exchange" program but that was more money than I wished to spend, plus I was interested in the sound of this cartridge with a different stylus profile. I chose Andy as the rebuilder as he's here in California and offers a quick turnaround, plus his reviews were excellent.

Andy discovered damage to the Replicant 100 stylus plus a tweaked cantilever. His replacement cantilever has a micro-ridge stylus. He also reconditioned the suspension, straightened the remaining cantilever, and cleaned the cartridge internals.

The cartridge was back in my hands in a few days and, while it's impossible to compare this rebuilt cart with it's new self, it sounds top-notch. I've very pleased and it was much easier to dial in - Andy suggested 2.0 grams with a level headshell - bingo. On top of that I saved ~$1500 compared to a factory exchange.

I highly recommend Andy Kim's cartridge services.