Andy Kim - Needle Clinic


I wanted to put this post out there about Andy Kim of Needle Clinic, located in Bellevue, Washington. As many may know, Andy is a cartridge re-tipper. I tried to find some older posts to add my comments but couldn't find them. So I'll start another OP. I just got my Lyra Kleos back from Andy today. Here's my comments.

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.
bifwynne
I can answer for Doug authoritatively and say that at 2000 hours your Kleos will be toast and that solely as a result of my extreme generosity, I will pay you $100 (and I will send you a prepaid shipping lable) to take it off your hands so that you do not have to go through the agony of cartridge disposal ;~) This is a one time offer, so call now. Operators are standing by! This offer will not be repeated! OK, $150, but that's my final offer.
Andy Kim has been great. He did wonders for one of my budget carts. I have a Denon DL-160 and the cost of the re-tip outweighed trying to score one on the net. Communication was timely and professional. Shipping was quick and he even mounted the cart on the headshell I provided him. Nice guy to deal with. I wanted to give Andy a chance because of A'gon member Viridian.
Hey Swampy ... , when you say toast, is that white bread toast (ala the Blues Brothers) or whole wheat toast?? :-)
Neither, Bif. It's the kind of toast that Jack Nicholson told Karen Black to put between her knees in 5 Easy Pieces.