Andy Kim - Needle Clinic

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.

All

I would like to provide my feedback about a fantastic experience with Andy Kim as well! I recently pulled out my old Accutrac 4000! for the past 30 years it was on display as a conversation piece.  Feeling a bit nostalgic, I connected it and found it worked perfectly except the stylus was in bad shape, but the original LMA 1 seemed to be ok.  after an exhaustive search I determined I could not find a replacement stylus or an original ADC cartridge.  Most suggested, replacing the cartridge completely and forgoing the functionality that made the Accutrac appealing 40 years ago.  This wasn't an option for me.  This led me to explore   retipping as an option. The initial contacts I made informed me I the process could take weeks to as much as a month to send in and expect a return.  Then I contacted Andy.  Andy responded promptly and was also local!  He retipped my original LMA 1 in 2 hours while I waited!  I suspect that others I contacted ship out the work as opposed to performing the work in house.  The new stylus (Micro Ridge Boron) now rivals my main Turntable (Music Hall IKura with a Orthron  2m Black cartridge)

Many tanks to Andy for his great work and prompt service!!

These are great reports, keep them coming.

These services need recognition, especially as there is a very cost-effective route into owning a high quality and design Cartridge, if the right donor model can be discovered for fair monies parted with.

Another best guy doing same-- Steven From  VAS audio NJ . 

I've yet to see any mention of using Andy's own NC-1? He had a batch made and was offering them couple years ago?

I passed when he offered one when I got the news a cart wasn't repairable.

Limited Production: The Needle Clinic NC-1 is limited to 20 pieces. Specifications: Type: Low impedance moving coil (MC) cartridge Frequency response: 10 Hz to 50 kHz Output Voltage: 0.23mV Channel Separation: 30dB or more (1kHz) Channel Balance: 1dB or less (1kHz) Cantilever: Beryllium Stylus Tip: Van Den Hul Load Impedance: 20-100 Ohms Impedance: 6 Ohms Tracking weight: 1.8 to 2.2 grams Weight: 5 grams Cartridge Price: $1300 

Couldn't figure out how to paste the pic downloaded from the email. Generic looking, plasticky body but for the price and possible performance might have been a sleeper?