van den Hul Colibri - Reconditioning


Hello Friends and Fellow 'philes:  Has anyone tried to have a cartridge sent to Holland for AJ to recondition in the last year?  I am told to contact VPI for mailing to van den Hul, and just concerned about the steps involved.  Any advice or experiences to recount ?

 

Thanks

Dana Woods

neoneon

I think you ought to sit back with a shot of whiskey and relax.  This is not life and death.  Because you read something in a "paper" does not necessarily mean it applies to your particular cartridge, even assuming that you have kept meticulous track of the hours of use, which most of us don't do very well. Do you perceive any degradation of sound quality?  By all accounts I have ever read, vdH is a kindly person who does take his time.  If and when you submit your cartridge for inspection and possible repair, be prepared to be without it for many months.  This means you will want to have on hand another cartridge that you can enjoy in the meanwhile.

John McGurk is first class. My Crimson XGW Strad went back for 200 hr. adjustment six months ago. The turn-around time was about two months. There is no reason to worry, particularly if you have your original box with the mounting hardware. It is always a good idea to buy a bag of mounting screws and washers which I always keep on hand.

I sent my Crimson back to VDH for a retip last month. AJ had it replaced within a week but then it took another week to get the invoice (which was fine since I bought a Hana Red to get me by :)). I think it took about 3 weeks from door-to-door and back.