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Andy Kim - Needle Clinic

I wanted to put this post out there about Andy Kim of Needle Clinic, located in Bellevue, Washington. As many may know, Andy is a cartridge re-tipper. I tried to find some older posts to add my comments but couldn't find them. So I'll start another OP. I just got my Lyra Kleos back from Andy today. Here's my comments.

My Kleos sounded a little off lately, so I thought it should be checked out. I sent it to Andy Kim. It turns out all that was needed was the stylus required a cleaning and polishing. Andy reported back that the stylus only has about 10 percent wear; IOW plenty of life left.

So I remounted the Kleos today and have been playing all types of music: rock and roll, classical, and so forth. The Kleos sounds wonderful; just great. Kudos to Andy Kim.

Fyi -- some may ask why I didn't send it to Peter Ledermann at Sound-Smith. I seem to recall reading somewhere that he's been unusually busy lately -- and with good reason -- and turn around might be a bit delayed. Also, I'm not sure Peter uses replacement cantilever/stylus assemblies that match (or at least come close to) the original. Andy does.
Anyway, that is a bridge I don't have to cross today.

Bottom line: Andy turned my cartridge within a week of receipt and I am pleased.
bifwynne
andysf's avatar
andysf
269 posts
 
Don't have any experience with his cartridge repair but he did do a restoration of an old Omega watch for me.  I was very happy with his work, price and delivery time.
 Personally, I would send him a cartridge to fix without hesitation.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
I would honestly say that considering what I have is an original glider, I believe it actually sounds better than it ever did.
jhkear
8 posts
 
I just had my Rega Ania stylus/cantilever repaired by Andy Kim - http://www.phonocartridgeretipping.com/ - and it sounds like a different cartridge in all the right ways. I opted for his microridge stylus and sapphire/boron cantilever upgrade, and the difference is very noticeable. The sound is even warmer than before and there is definitely more detail than the stock Ania stylus.
I would not hesitate to have him repair or upgrade my cartridges ... and he turned it around in 2 days and was super responsive to deal with. Who does that these days???
Thanks so much, Andy ... you are awesome.
dave12345
1 posts
 
I recently bought a Rega Planar 8 w/ the Apheta 2 cartridge and somehow bent the stylus so it didn't track properly (don't let your friends use your expensive turntables!).  Through this forum, I contacted Andy.  We had a three minute conversation and he said he would upgrade the cartridge w/ a micro ridge stylus and recondition suspension for $450.  After viewing the badly bent style Andy increased the price to $500.  It was worth the increase in price since the upgrade is equal to the higher model Rega Aphelion mc cartridge (retails for 5k).  Andy repaired everything and returned within a few days of receipt.  Seems to be working as advertised.  Learned my lesson and happy with Andy's superior service.  Hope to have many years of enjoyment playing vinyl w/ Andy's help!
tablejockey
3,916 posts
 
Just look at it as not getting the discount on the cart, if you purchased it as a package.
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