i recently sent Andy pics of my cartridge which was a Benz LP. I asked him if it was worth re-tipping and he said he could upgrade the cartridge to a Benz LPS for $750. I was planning on spending about 2,500 for a different cartridge from Hana and Andy said the cartridge I have, once upgraded will be a substantial improvement above anything in the 2500 price range. I decided to deliver the cartridge to Andy since he lived 30 mins from me In Sacramento, CA, and the following day the work was complete with the new stylus. I can only say WOW! what a huge improvement in fidelity and sound stage from my LP Benz. He said this is now a LPS Benz and I could not be happier! Thanks again for the quick turnaround time and huge upgrade to my system Andy!
Andy Kim - Needle Clinic
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.
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I sent Andy Kim a Koetsu Pro IV for a retip, boron/microridge. The retipped cartridge sounds fantastic. The Koetsu magic with more detail — the bass impact is striking. Now the Pro IV is one of my favorite cartridges. Andy is great to work with. Good communication. I have also had good experiences with Soundmith — but it takes a lot longer. |
Interesting that the different Styli used is solely thought about as being the cause of the additional detail Retrieval. The Weight and Length of Boron and Adhesive used for connecting both Cantilever to the Armature and Styli to the Cantilever, are as per the chosen method quite capable of influencing the perception of extra truth being discovered and noticeably presented from the recording.
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Andy Kim -Needle Clinic I recently purchase a previously owned Pro-Ject RPM 9. Included in the purchase was a Sumiko Blackbird MC cartridge without stylus. I searched the internet for places to have the cartridge checked out and possibly repiped. Andy Kim’s Needle Clinic showed up located in El Dorado Hills, CA, just 20 minutes from my house. I arranged for him to check out the cartridge and if it was good to repipe it. I got the repiped cartridge back in two days. It played absolutely amazing and provided a new level of playback definition and experience. After a month or so my left channel went out. I figured I must have broken a connection on the cartridge with one of my careless needle drops. Sent the cartridge back to Andy. He let me know that I didn’t break a connection, but that a coil on the armature went bad where it rubs the white silicon rubber damper. He tried to find the broken connection to repair (remember you have to look through a microscope to do this) but he couldn’t, says most retipers, even Sound Smith, don’t repair coils. As a result, he replaced the high output coil with a new mid level output coil. So now I have the Needle Clinic Blackbird, the hot rod version of the Sumiko. It even sounds better than my original repiped version. Needless to say, I am very happy with the service from Andy Kim. If you’re in need of repiping service check him out.
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