SoundSmith Sapphire cantilever upgrade to CA Virtuoso?


Hello,

I have a CA Virtuoso cartridge that I am thinking of replacing or upgrading with a SoundSmith's new Sapphire cantilever with a Contact line stylus or change the stylus myself with the AT-VM95ML.

Does anyone have experience with these stylus and whether they would provide an upgrade to the Virtuoso?

Thanks, Drew Harty




drewharty
I broke the cantilever on my Virtuoso Wood and had the Ruby retip done by Soundsmith.  It sounded very nice, but I'm not sure I'd consider it an "upgrade".  If you want to upgrade, get a different cartridge.  If you've broken the cantilever, Andy Kim also does a nice job of re-tipping.
Dear @drewharty : I owned the Virtuoso ( same At motor than the 95. ) and own the 95 with elliptical stylus tip and the 95ML version and I can tell you that's a true improvement with better quality performance levels.
In the other side is really unexpensive.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
I would send it in for repair, then keep as a spare.

I would upgrade to something else if I wanted an upgrade
Thanks for everyones input. I am looking into cartridges that would be considered an upgrade, but my budget is limited--mostly looking at a used Maestro V2 or Zephyr MK III with low use.

There seems to be mixed opinions about whether a new stylus improves the sound quality of the Virtuoso. Many say there's a big improvement with the 95ML, like Rauliruegas, or the Soundsmith Sapphire stylus, but some say not, so it doesn't seem like it would be a waste to try a new stylus, if I can't find something else used.

Drew