Any experience with Sound Smith repairing stylus on non-Sound Smith cartridges?


I was reaching across my Rega P8 turntable with Linn Krystal cartridge (four months old with 250 hours), and the back of my finger hit the stylus, and severely bent / broke the stylus and cantilever, as the stylus is now pointing straight down,and the tip is facing backwards (instead of down).  I was probably going to send the Linn cartridge to Sound Smith for repair.  Has anyone had experience with their various stylus repair options for Linn (or other non-Sound Smith) cartridges?  
Thanks. 

 

drbond

I had a Sumiko Blue Point Evo 3 that the cantilever had been broken off rebuilt and it came back sounding wonderful, I wouldn't hesitate to use Peter again.

I broke the cantilever on my Clearaudio Virtuouso Wood cart and had it rebuilt by Soundsmith.  It sounded great.  When I broke it again (arggh!), I sent it to Andy Kim, who was much faster and if I remember correctly, the price was a little less.  I recently sent a trashed Zu Denon DL 103 that came with a turntable I bought to Andy and it sounded amazing when he was done with it. 

Soundsmith does quality work and if that's your preference, I don't think you'll be disappointed.  Andy is another option worth considering.

Soundsmith retipped my Monster Cable Sigma Genesis 2000 cartridge (don't laugh, it was made by Zyx) and did a great job. It was not a fast turnaround, but within the time they estimated.

I would guess that SS does more retipping of other brands than it does on its own cartridges. You will be hard pressed to find a negative review of their work. In my case, I had them redo a Grace Ruby with sapphire cantilever and OCL stylus. (Original Ruby has elliptical stylus.) I am very pleased with results.

@mijostyn 

The Linn Krystal has a aluminum tube cantilever, with a vital fine line stylus (whatever that means).  It seems like aluminum would be the reasonable replacement option from Sound Smith:

Aluminum Alloy Cantilever; Nude Hyper- Elliptical Diamond $200

 

Sound Smith recommended the Boron, because of "the stylus profile", and it's also the most expensive option

Boron Cantilever with Nude Contact Line $450

 

What do you think would match best with the Linn vital fine line stylus?
Thanks.