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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
big_greg
6,650 posts
 
@lewm I'm not sure I understand your question or the logic behind it.  Any re-tip is the cost of the cartridge plus the re-tip. 

The cost of the re-tip however is a fraction of the cost of a new cartridge of similar quality.  In this case, the cartridge was included with a turntable that I paid $500 for, so it didn't cost me much, if anything. 

Again, I have no idea what it sounded like before, but I have to believe it's an improvement.  I wasn't expecting much and was more than pleasantly surprised.  I do have a couple of Denon DL-301 MK2 cartridges, which is a higher model than the DL-103 and the re-tipped Zu Denon is in a completely different league.
lewm
13,143 posts
 
I have no doubt what you say is true. I was only pointing out the total cost to someone starting out from scratch. As compared to the higher cost of your other cartridge. Although the audiophile  press would have us think otherwise, the relationship between cost of a cartridge and sound quality is often askew.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Zu Audio replaced plastic cartridge body with their own better quality (they made several different variations over the years, first was aluminum). Their best grade Denon (with upgraded body) is just a perfectly matched output (L/R channels) sample selected from a bunch of original Denon 103. The cost for latest and best mk II is $799 on their site. 

Basically, Zu DL-103 is just calibrated sample with heavy cartridge body, the rest if just original Denon 103. 

What is new on their site is this option. 


  

 
audioquest4life
772 posts
 
@lewm,

👍. 
Spot on statement. In fact, this statement can be applicable to other audio equipment besides cartridges.
lewm
13,143 posts
 
Indubitably. (I think that’s correct spelling.)
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