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does a stylus retip makea cartridge as good as new

I notice quite a few cartridges being offered on Agon with stylus retips and claims that the cartridge is as good as new- or better! I thought cartridges deteriorated with age due to oxidation regardless of tip wear. I seem to remember Michael Fremer in Stereophile giving a life of about 5 years. Am I wrong?
rrm
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
All the Soundsmith retips noted above do replace the cantilever. Under certain circumstances Peter will replace just the diamond, but my understanding is that this costs MORE, not less.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Dopoque, This is the the same information I got from an
Dutch retip service. Already imply in my first post. But
there is no condition to my knowledge like 'under certain
circumstances'. There are persons who insist on replacemt
of the stylus only. So one should be good informed in advance.

Regards,
tbromgard
814 posts
 
You might be better off getting a new one depending on the cost. I bought a $200 Clearaudio and broke it during set up (Doh!). Its $175 to replace. I would rather spend another few bucks and get a new one, which i did. Orotofon Blue, and it sounds much better than the Clearaudio Concept MM I busted.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Tbromgard, You are obviously talking about MM carts. In this case you buy a new stylus. With an MC cart of,say, $2500 this relationship is $250 for the retip or $2500 for the new one.
Regards,
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