does a stylus retip makea cartridge as good as new

I hope you're wrong about that 5-year thing. All my carts except one are either older than that or M U C H older than that As to stylus retips, I've had everything from Denons to Koetsus retipped by Soundsmith and haven't been unhappy yet. YMMV of course.

Rrm, I haven't gone down the retip road yet, but I tend to agree with Dopogue. Peter Ledermann of Sound Smith (SS) is supposed to be a tech genius and extremely credible. The SS web site expressly states that before a retip job is started, the cartridge is carefully examined. The retip is done only if the cartridge is in good shape or can be repaired. In light of the SS reputation, I would not be too concerned.

..not necessarily so.... A retip is only the replacement of the "needle"....often, the suspension needs to be replaced. I believe soundsmith can do suspension repairs, however, they don't use original parts. The stylus may be of different material, and the diamond itself may be a different cut. I believe soundsmith does a fine job, the result will not be same as when it originally built. You might like the original or the soundsmith version, but they will not be the same.

agree with Stringreen....if possible I would use the original manufacturer for all the servicing....the re-tip is just that....new tip.

Unless the cartridge is very valuable, you use it a lot, it is expensive and you are relatively poor, I wouldn't even bother with retipping and rebuilding. And I would certainly insist on original everything because doing otherwise would be a big gamble. But if you buy used for a very good price, like it a lot, well maybe it's worth the risk. As for the longivety, it varies greatly, I understand.