Sumiko Blackbird Cartridge

Would you mind telling us what cleaning procedure caused the damage? I have the same cartridge too!

I recently had a catastrophic accident with mine (duh -- I dropped a record on the tonearm). I took it to a nearby Sumiko dealer, who arranged to have it sent in to them for repair. Instead they just replaced it, for hundreds less than the cost of a new one.

"The repair shop says it is dead."

What on earth does that mean? Snapped cantilever? Broken coils? Fungi growing inside?

Have it evaluated by someone who understands and can work on phono cartridges (like Sumiko themselves or Soundsmith, as mentioned above).

If you just list it for sale as "Dead - don't know exactly why", I think you can guess how many bids you'll get.

Soundsmith are a class act all the way. They not only make excellent cartridges, but they are very professional in the way they do business. I would not hesitate to send it them for evaluation.

Here's what happened. I always use a magnifying visor to do any detail work. I was looking at the stylus as I carefully
cleaned it and noticed what looked like a small hair clinging to the cartridge body. I used some tweezers to touch it and possibly remove it. Immediately, both channels went out. That's all it took! I did a forum search and read several similar accounts of others having the exact same kind of experience. It wasn't a "hair" or any other foreign body. It was a wire that appeared after a couple of year's use. So, whatever you do, if something appears that looks as if it needs to be removed, LEAVE IT ALONE!!! Other than cleaning the stylus, don't unnecessarily touch any other part of the cartridge. Also, you can't replace a stylus on a Blackbird so be very careful with that as well.