Couple more points: there are no gold-plated boron pipe cantilevers available to anyone unless they find NOS somewhere. Not sure there ever was a gold-plated boron pipe cantilever in production to begin with If there was, it’s the first I’ve heard of it.
To criticize a Koetsu owner who doesn’t have the money, or maybe who does have the money but who doesn’t believe their cartridge needs to be completely stripped out and replaced as demonstrating “strange behavior,” is just snobbery. What if a Koetsu owner knocked their diamond out during initial set up? In fact, most damage happens at this critical phase. Sending the cartridge to Koetsu for their outrageous pricing to do work that is totally unnecessary: please explain to me how that is not strange and wasteful human behavior.
And a Koetsu is hardly an exotic cartridge anymore. The cantilevers and diamond they use are purchased directly off the shelf from Ogura. I can buy them and so can you. These are not third party parts. There are no third party manufacturers of nude line contact diamonds, period. The only finished diamond manufacturer that even comes close to the definition of “third party” is Expert Stylus Co. since they manufacture the “Paratrace” knock offs of the van den Hul 1 and van den Hul 2. But even those aren’t knock offs because they also manufacture the actual van den Hul 1 and van den Hul 2 for van den Hul. They get to make the Paratrace for themselves under the licensing agreement which is highly unusual, but shows the kind of power the manufacturer of such a scarce item can wield.
So, ignoring the very recent emergence of the Swiss black nude diamonds, to suggest that inferior nude diamonds could even exist shows a lack of basic knowledge of the state of the industry. I can buy the OEM diamonds from Ogura, Namiki and Gyger and so can you. Same even for other cartridges like the top of the line Dynavectors and others. So why not use a retipper who can help you, get you excellent service and fast turnaround? And why criticize and put people down as strange who make choices that you disagree with, particularly when you don’t have the imagination to conjure up a situation where spending thousands of dollars on unnecessary work doesn’t make sense, and conclude that the truth comes down solely to a lack of money. That’s ridiculous.
Incidentally, I would not be at all surprised if the black nude diamonds continue to be refined to the point that they start competing in the high end OEM marketplace as well. There’s is no reason why Synton can’t continue to develop that item into having the same level of quality as Ogura, Gyger and Namiki. The elliptical they produce already has a contact patch more like a fine line than an elliptical as it is, and the shaping and polishing is definitely more true ellipsoid. The block is pretty large though. If they could reduce the mass, which they probably will, it could be as good as anything else on the market in time.
You also said it makes no sense to retip any moving magnet cartridge when original styli are available. If they are not, buy a new cartridge.
Why? Here’s something you are missing. Since the M97xE went out of production, there are people who want a new stylus but spending $150 or $200 which is the price they go for now is too much. Also, lots of people don’t have the ability or notion to remove their cartridge or set it up again and align it. They maybe don’t have the vision, the dexterity, the knowledge, the time or the inclination. They can send me their stylus and for a good price they can have their original N97xE retipped to a nude Ogura PE on an upgrade aluminum cantilever and install their stylus again without having to realign the whole set up. The customer feedback has been outstanding and appreciative.
To criticize a Koetsu owner who doesn’t have the money, or maybe who does have the money but who doesn’t believe their cartridge needs to be completely stripped out and replaced as demonstrating “strange behavior,” is just snobbery. What if a Koetsu owner knocked their diamond out during initial set up? In fact, most damage happens at this critical phase. Sending the cartridge to Koetsu for their outrageous pricing to do work that is totally unnecessary: please explain to me how that is not strange and wasteful human behavior.
And a Koetsu is hardly an exotic cartridge anymore. The cantilevers and diamond they use are purchased directly off the shelf from Ogura. I can buy them and so can you. These are not third party parts. There are no third party manufacturers of nude line contact diamonds, period. The only finished diamond manufacturer that even comes close to the definition of “third party” is Expert Stylus Co. since they manufacture the “Paratrace” knock offs of the van den Hul 1 and van den Hul 2. But even those aren’t knock offs because they also manufacture the actual van den Hul 1 and van den Hul 2 for van den Hul. They get to make the Paratrace for themselves under the licensing agreement which is highly unusual, but shows the kind of power the manufacturer of such a scarce item can wield.
So, ignoring the very recent emergence of the Swiss black nude diamonds, to suggest that inferior nude diamonds could even exist shows a lack of basic knowledge of the state of the industry. I can buy the OEM diamonds from Ogura, Namiki and Gyger and so can you. Same even for other cartridges like the top of the line Dynavectors and others. So why not use a retipper who can help you, get you excellent service and fast turnaround? And why criticize and put people down as strange who make choices that you disagree with, particularly when you don’t have the imagination to conjure up a situation where spending thousands of dollars on unnecessary work doesn’t make sense, and conclude that the truth comes down solely to a lack of money. That’s ridiculous.
Incidentally, I would not be at all surprised if the black nude diamonds continue to be refined to the point that they start competing in the high end OEM marketplace as well. There’s is no reason why Synton can’t continue to develop that item into having the same level of quality as Ogura, Gyger and Namiki. The elliptical they produce already has a contact patch more like a fine line than an elliptical as it is, and the shaping and polishing is definitely more true ellipsoid. The block is pretty large though. If they could reduce the mass, which they probably will, it could be as good as anything else on the market in time.
You also said it makes no sense to retip any moving magnet cartridge when original styli are available. If they are not, buy a new cartridge.
Why? Here’s something you are missing. Since the M97xE went out of production, there are people who want a new stylus but spending $150 or $200 which is the price they go for now is too much. Also, lots of people don’t have the ability or notion to remove their cartridge or set it up again and align it. They maybe don’t have the vision, the dexterity, the knowledge, the time or the inclination. They can send me their stylus and for a good price they can have their original N97xE retipped to a nude Ogura PE on an upgrade aluminum cantilever and install their stylus again without having to realign the whole set up. The customer feedback has been outstanding and appreciative.