Refurbished / Re-tipped Cartridges - Are they worth Buying?

lalitk, You don't need the original designer to replace the cantilever/stylus assembly with parts identical in physical characteristics to those of the original.  The question is whether such parts are still available, if the cartridge is very old.  For one example, one of my favorite cartridges, the B&O MMC1, came with what appeared to be under my microscope a hollow tubular sapphire cantilever, and if memory serves, the stylus was inserted across the hollow tube without glue. (I am relying on memory, because I accidentally tore the cantilever out of my MMC1 while trying to engage the built on stylus guard.)  The replacement, done by Soundsmith because of Peter Ledermann's expertise in B&O, is a solid sapphire rod and a glued stylus, with a very visible gob of glue holding the stylus in place.  Not at all "like new". And yet, not cheap.

Dear @lalitk " would you buy a completely rebuilt cart vs a slightly used cartridge…"

Completely rebuilt... certainly not and slightly used cartridge could depends of its " vintage " because normally designer/manufacturers of cartridges over short time makes small/tiny changes in the same model with out knowing the market/customers and they did not advertise about because some of them think that the changes do not deserve a MK2 version or the like. In the other side if the owner put on sale because he now own a better cartridge model in the line or even a different top rated cartridge could be worth to buy that slightly used cartridge when normally you can buy it for the 50% of its retail price, sometimes even with higher discount.

At the end everything depends on each customer, in my case I’m out to buy any new top cartridge or slightly used because my long first hand experiences already fulfill my cartridge expectations and I know for sure that speaking of today top rated cartridges in reality several of them are not really better but different or only in one quality performance level characteristic is better.

New top cartridges are only " new models " but at the end it’s more of the same. The only example I have of a new model are with the Lyra Lambda SL that in true has better differences not only against its past lines but against the competition.

I listen briefly the Fugga ( this is only an example of what I’ posting ) and not in my system but I owned the original Miyabi and listened the 47 and my vote go for Miyabi. Btw, today is weird that with a " top " cartridge with high price label the designers had better options that aluminum in the cantilever and stylus shape but they took the Miyabi road in this regards.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

Always had excellent experiences rebuilding carts with Soundsmith. Re-tip with or without new cantilever. However that is starting from an original cart. I would not buy a used rebuilt cart. No way to know how they were handled and how much use they got.

I think a distinction must be drawn between retipping by sawing off the cantilever and glueing a new cantilever/stylus to the stub, and retipping by leaving the original cantilever intact and replacing only the diamond stylus. In the former, the mass of the moving system, and the resonant characteristics of the cantilever are altered. In the later not so much, if at all.

Now some cartridges, Lyra and Koetsu come to mind, have proprietary stylus cuts, so those will never sound exactly the same, but most stylus cuts are generic and supplied by Orbray, Ogura, Geiger, and a few others.

@mulveling, @lewm 

Thank you gentleman for your well thought out responses. Good to know there are some reliable resources that can rebuild your treasured cart with same materials (if available). I did liked your comment about outcome of such rebuild as hybrid design with good results but different. The owner who has spent considerable amount of time with original build is in a position to judge whether rebuild is worth keeping around. This makes it a worthwhile endeavor on high priced carts or those no longer in production. 

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl playback :-)