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Diamond Stylus Enters the 4th Dimension

So, I went to play a Chet Baker Album last night. Lowered the arm, flipped og the mute switch and.......GARBAGE!

The cantilever looked fine. On examination with my USB microscope I confirmed a sullen fact. The diamond had gone AWOL. There is just a little glue left on the end of the cantilever which is completely undamaged. It is a Clearaudio Charisma cartridge.

Anyone ever have this happen? I played records the day before no problem. I did not take anything to the stylus brush or otherwise. I do use an Audio Technica tonearm lift but it's trigger mechanism is so light. I can't believe that did it and it certainly should not do it. IMHO the cantilever should break before the diamond gets knocked off. 

The cartridge is four months old and I got it from Elusive Disc. It has a two year warranty. Here is where the rubber hits the road. 
128x128mijostyn
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn OP
8,570 posts
 
Just for yuks I took USB microscope pictures of the cantilever and posted them on on my systems page. I think I know how it failed. There was no glue between the end of the cantilever and the diamond, just the surrounding glue which was very thin on one side. Eventually, it just let go. The diamond should be fully bedded in the glue but there was not any on the cantilever side. They are positioning the diamond against the end of the cantilever then just placing a dab glue on it, The glue does not get into the joint. Any woodworker will tell you this is a bad way to do it!
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn OP
8,570 posts
 
@teo_audio, do you have specs on the cartridge? How much are you asking. Pictures?
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,874 posts
 
@mijostyn  Your photo of the cantilever tells the whole story. It seems clear that there was an incorrect gluing of the stylus to the cantilever. A clear manufacturing defect, IMHO. This is something that the manufacturer should make right for you.
BTW, I like your modded Acoustat 2+2's, I used to own Acoustat 3's with the modded C transformers back in the day. 
katylied
54 posts
 
@daveyf , I'm using the Onzow for more than 10 years on my cartridges (Ortofon Kontrapunkt Blue first and Cadenza Bronze recently) with no issues. I guess that most of the problems arise from user mistake. I've also used for many years the Last Formula 4 without any damage to the cartridge (Shinon Saphic, Kiseki Purpleheart, Carnegie One, etc..).
I've seen diamonds gone from the stylus on several cartridges, last week a customer brought in a Grado Reference Platinum, s**t can happen!
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,874 posts
 
@katylied I know a number of dealers who are now refusing to stock or sell the Onzow cleaner. I’m pretty sure  the horror stories with the Onzow result from what you say...user error. I use one on my Lyra, along with the Last Stylast, and both do work quite well. I think one has to be careful though with the Onzow.
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