Axelwahl: The Dorian is designed to have a mounting screwhole to stylus distance of 9.52mm (3/8 inch - not 5/8 inch which would be 15.875mm!). All of the present Lyra cartridges are made like this, with the exception of the Helikon (the oldest design in our lineup).
The Dorian's mechanical components are milled on an NC system, so even given component tolerances, it would be impossible for the 9.52mm dimension to be off by more than +/- 0.3mm.
Also, assuming for a moment that the Dorian was indeed considerably shorter than 9.52mm, the mounting screwhole to stylus distance is not a dimension that should change with a retip; unless the retip involves rather violent measures (grin).
In any case, Axelwahl, your story doesn't (yet) make sense to me.
As an aside, the suspension and dampers of an MC will gradually degrade with use, and should properly be replaced together with the cantilever system when the stylus wears out. Restated, a cartridge should be rebuilt rather than retipped when the stylus wears out.
However, no cartridge manufacturer that I am aware of is in the habit of making any of their components available to outside retipping companies (and none of these components are standard off-the-shelf parts).
Also, even for the original manufacturer, it takes time to understand the intricacies of a specific MC design and how to make it work at its best. Much of the prototyping cycle of a new cartridge model is focused specifically on that aspect - the design will be built and rebuilt in dozens of different ways until it can be figured out how to extract the maximum possible amount of performance from it.
Therefore, unless an outside retipper has a specific agreement to receive authentic rebuild parts from the original manufacturer, and has undergone a hands-on training program dedicated to that design, for him to rebuild an MC faithfully is an impossibility.
hth, jonathan carr
The Dorian's mechanical components are milled on an NC system, so even given component tolerances, it would be impossible for the 9.52mm dimension to be off by more than +/- 0.3mm.
Also, assuming for a moment that the Dorian was indeed considerably shorter than 9.52mm, the mounting screwhole to stylus distance is not a dimension that should change with a retip; unless the retip involves rather violent measures (grin).
In any case, Axelwahl, your story doesn't (yet) make sense to me.
As an aside, the suspension and dampers of an MC will gradually degrade with use, and should properly be replaced together with the cantilever system when the stylus wears out. Restated, a cartridge should be rebuilt rather than retipped when the stylus wears out.
However, no cartridge manufacturer that I am aware of is in the habit of making any of their components available to outside retipping companies (and none of these components are standard off-the-shelf parts).
Also, even for the original manufacturer, it takes time to understand the intricacies of a specific MC design and how to make it work at its best. Much of the prototyping cycle of a new cartridge model is focused specifically on that aspect - the design will be built and rebuilt in dozens of different ways until it can be figured out how to extract the maximum possible amount of performance from it.
Therefore, unless an outside retipper has a specific agreement to receive authentic rebuild parts from the original manufacturer, and has undergone a hands-on training program dedicated to that design, for him to rebuild an MC faithfully is an impossibility.
hth, jonathan carr
