No right channel in new cartridge

 My point is that I do not think you can blame the seller for the malfunction of the cartridge, fairly. Because something may have happened to it in shipment or during set up. So after you found the problem, the seller seems to have acted honorably by offering to refund your purchase price and accepting  the cartridge in return. At least that is my understanding  based on your previous posts. Now it seems you are angry with him or disillusioned with him, because he told you that soundSmith could fix the cartridge in very short order. That is quite a different issue, and I don’t think it’s quite fair to be upset with him because Peter at SoundSmith does not confirm his statement.  This is all assuming that he is still willing to take the cartridge back from you and refund your money. That is the basic issue, in my view. That’s why I say you would be better off not to say anything negative about him while this exchange is still pending.  This is in your own best interests. Of course it is also in the best interest of the seller to keep you happy. 

This is a very frail cartridge. Easily damaged as attested to by some reviewers on Amazon.

lewm, he never wanted the cart back.  He didn’t want to give me a refund.  This is probably just too nuanced for a post.  But, he wouldn’t let me return it & blames me.  He would only let me send it to SS for his supposed great relationship & fast turnaround for him personally. 

I never wanted to air all the details.  I put this up as a “help me fix it” post... I only wanted the cart. It was only after warnings that I knew to ask questions.  It’s a lesson learned for me.

As I was counseled here, I opened a case & just sent it back to Smoothy anyway, insured it for new retail with proof of delivery.

Now I just need a few suggestions about carts on this site at $850 or below.  I like things just a tad bright... if you’d (or anyone) give me suggestions I’d appreciate it

As always, thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge.

Audio Technica, Dynavector, Ortofon.  Those are all excellent old-line brands with high reliability and known for their no-nonsense presentation of music.  I own at least one of each of the above, so I am speaking from personal listening experience, which is the only way I ever give advice. You can't go wrong with any of those.  I would not have recommended a Sumiko cartridge, for whatever that's worth.

Thanks lewm