Andy Kim - Needle Clinic

@nicks25 some other options for you

I have not used this service as of yet, or any other service based within the US.

I have discussed a particular rebuild design for a Cartridge I have, but have not got the offer to meet all of my requests.

From all the correspondences shared, I have no doubt, if the Cartridge was to be forwarded as a repair task only, the returned cartridge will have surpassed my expectations.   

As a side, The Services are not limited to rebuilds, and a lot can be gained by having a service only on a Cartridge.

I have heard Cartridges prior to and post an Inspection and Cleaning Treatment, there is a very noticeable difference. For those with a Cartridge left out in an exposed to room atmosphere set up, with not too many hours of usage and owned for a few years, I will heartily recommend sending it in for a Cleaning Treatment.  As a pre inspection before making a decision, have a look at the Stylus > Bobbin Interface where the Stylus enters the Cart's body, whatever is seen will invade further, and airborne metal particles will attach to the coils and magnets.

A friend had a channel imbalance due to metal on a coil.

Just received and remounted my Benz LPS, which was "rebuilt" (new boron cantilever and line contact stylus) by Andy Kim. This is the third time I’ve used his services. I sent him this LPS due to high hours (almost 1000 hrs) and an unfortunate incident where I literally stabbed myself with its cantilever. (Ever have to clean flesh off a cartridge? It was surreal.) There was less than a one week TAT from me sending it off to Andy and getting it back. To be succinct, the LPS sounds fantastic and to my memory as good as it was when new. This is the third time I’ve used Andy’s services (Benz Gullwing, twice with Benz LPS) and again I am very pleased with his fine work. TBH I don’t see myself using Soundsmith again, not because SS are inferior, just because of the long TAT.

This is a short review of the excellent and quick work done by Andy at Needle Clinic in LA. I sent him my Dynavector Karat 17D3 for re-tipping and had it back in less than a week sounding better than the original, particularly in terms of stereo signal balance and overall tracking. 
Andy was professional and clearly a total craftsman.
 

Great to see your report on the satisfaction being met as a result of having a Cartridge overhauled by a rebuild service.

The turnaround time when delivered in a short period is an absolute bonus, and my take on it is that  memories of what was temporarily separated from are strong and the benefits of the service undertaken are quite noticeable when recollecting and assessing the new performance on offer.  

My experience mirrors yours as well, with a Cartridge Rebuild from a different supplier of a rebuild Service.

In my case I was able to compare the the returned Cartridge to a identical model.

The returned Cartridge was mounted on a detachable Headshell.

Another Cartridge of the same Model with a few hundred hours of usage was also mounted onto a identical Detachable Headshell.

Both Cartridges were A/B Compared in a identical set up and the returned Cartridge from the rebuild service without any run in time, shone out as the better Cartridge over the original model, to the point that the Original Cartridge was said to be quite lacking in qualities as a comparison. 

The knowing that the rebuilt cartridge was to improve further was very satisfying.