VAS (Steven Leung) cartridge repair/retipping service?

scm
please let us know how that works out for you.
I have nothing but high praise so far.

uberwaltz1 ...Will do

I have been sending my Koetsus to Van den Hul for decades.

I lived in NYC for 45 years, and have been living in the Hudson Valley for 3, and though I am now minutes from Soundsmith, he is not cheap, in fact he is far more expensive than sending it overseas including shipping. And I find him difficult to work with.

Is anybody in a position to compare the quality of Steve's work to Van den Hul's?

Has anybody sent a Koetsu to Steve, and is able to describe the change in the sound characteristics, if any, before and after repair?

Thank you all in advance.

this thread has been very helpful. how close to "new" or "original" can a rebuild get? have some of you found your carts to sound better than original versions? thank you. 

Don't do it. Never allow a 3rd party re-tipper to touch any cartridge lest you become the laughing stock of your peers here and on all forums where these grand poobahs of phono cartridge wisdom reside.

Those proclaiming 100% positive experiences with re-tippers are nothing but shills and never buy anything new anyways, this hobby can do without them.

If you think your newly re-tipped cartridge will sound better than new then you are sorely mistaken. skilled practitioners employing modern methods, materials and potentially better styli profiles never advanced the art and whose efforts will never be accepted as an "improvement."

Phono cartridge design is a PRECISE science with protocols fierily adhered to. Such information re exact specifications of processes and materials are cloaked in extreme secrecy and guarded with the same doggedness as the recipe for Coca-Cola and WD-40 but to name but a few.

Yes, a 3rd party re-tipper should NEVER be considered other than by those who can care less about vinyl replay and music in general. Don't be a douchebag by pretending you got a deal or 'saved money' because you didn't.

WHEW! now that I got that off my chest I feel SOOO much better. Steve at VAS has done an awesome job for me repairing a half dozen high-end carts and counting. everything from a re-tip to cantilever/styli replacement, re-tensioning suspensions and fixing dead shorts. He's a miracle worker and my go-to guy. I heartedly recommend his services!