Refurbished / Re-tipped Cartridges - Are they worth Buying?

Inagroove, you have some expertise that allows you to judge the proper amount of glue used to fasten a stylus to a cantilever? Did you also look at zenith angle, when you examined that cartridge under magnification? You might be right about the glue, but it also could be something else.

Jonathan Carr (Lyra) who is regarded here as a major guru, wrote on this forum that it is wise to replace like with like, when it comes to cantilever and stylus, if you want to preserve the SQ of a cartridge. Because the other structural and functional elements of the cartridge were chosen with the OEM cantilever and stylus in mind. Thus, an “upgrade” may not necessarily be in the up direction. 

I guess you are talking about MC carts, as replacement stylus in MM carts are a non-issue, IMHO. I had my SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC* rebuilt by SoundSmith after a mishap, and I have zero issues with that.

With antique carts, I would rather consider them display items. 

Re slightly used, Audible Elegance just posted a video on used carts and strongly advises against them. Particularly the degrading suspension is an issue, and not perfectly aligned, partially worn stylus can damage records.

to lewm

Thanks for the questions...

YES, in this instance I do have the capacity to just the proper amount of glue that should be used. 

I have working in science for over 40 years, including microscopy. Under magnification, 3 of the 4 styluses were attached to their carts with ~ same small amount of glue (only a slight amount was visible), while the 4th cart had a GLOB OF HARD GLUE protruding and obscuring the stylus.  It was clear that the glue was interfering with tracking. Zenith angle was irrelevant due to this issue.

No disrespect to Johnathan Carr, but my direct-experience upgrading lower-priced cartridges (not Lyra's forte), is VERY beneficial.  If anyone wants to try my 'upgrades', the styluses were upgraded from spherical to micro-line stylus, and the cantilever was upgraded from aluminum to boron.  The work was done by SoundSmith.  I am 75% happy with the results (3 of 4).  Was it worth the cost?  I was willing to send four used carts, so Yes. 

I agree entirely with @lewm. It is impossible to know what you are getting with anyone but the original manufacturer. Soundsmith is a safe bet for retipping as they have the experience of a manufacturer although it is still impossible to know what you are getting unless you could compare the cartridges before and after. 

Inagroove, if you saw glue covering the stylus tip, then there’s no doubt you’re correct, and you were justified if you sent the cartridge back for a re-retip. My Grace Ruby was retipped with sapphire/OCL by SS, and it has a disconcertingly large gob of epoxy holding stylus to cantilever. However it sounds great. (MD here with 40 years as a virologist at NIH. I’ve got an Olympus scope to look at styli.)