Fremer's review of the Anna cartridge

Raul, I kind of agree with you on cartridges at that price level. But I am not so sure (any longer) that there is much that is proprietary regarding cantilevers and the styli that are attached thereto. It seems there are only a few businesses in the world that make these as replacement parts, and even the high end brands may be reliant upon them. Ortofon may be an exception, if indeed the replicant 100 and previous replicant styli are unique in shape. Also, each high end cartridge maker may separately contract with these few sources of parts, for exclusive production of a particular cantilever/stylus that is then not made available to independent re-tippers. And too, if the cartridge needs a total rebuild, for example, if its been stepped on or otherwise physically damaged, then yes, obviously it must go back to its maker.

I guess I have lost faith in the price/performance gospel, which is why I have become more cavalier about cartridge repair.

Acutusrex- Sorry to have offended you; I was just trying to light-heartedly say I agreed w you. The cost is very high compared to the cost of a new product. However, rebuilding/re-tipping high end MC carts is a sub-niche of a niche market and one that cannot be accomplished on a DIY basis. Tube power amps are a sub-niche market but most can be easily re-tubed at home and in most cases, the materials are readily available from a range of vendors. So you have a classic case of constrained supply which is going to keep prices high. However, I also freely admit that I have no idea how much of the cost of building a new cart is labor vs. materials and how much of the materials is in the body vs. the stylus/cantilever/motor assembly and how much can be re-used. I do believe that a rebuild/retip would be much more "customized" for each unit, which would drive labor costs up per unit, even when compared to a new build.
That's not to say that I do not believe that the costs of these services, like much of the high end, is totally out of control.

Raul, Since you have experience with more cartridges than most people, what SRA do you think is the best starting point for an unknown cart? Do you feel some carts are better at a different SRA than others? If so how big of a variance is there?

Swampwalker
Acutusrex- Sorry to have offended you; I was just trying to light-heartedly say I agreed w you.

Swampwalker,
No offense taken; I gathered as much. To the rest of your post, I agree with your points, and I would too very much like to know what dictates those very high costs of retipping. This really had me scratching my head in light of the recent work I had done on my speakers. One of my tweeters failed, and I had it fixed (essentially rebuilt) by an experienced professional who does these things for a living. That entailed not only new materials and labor, but also "aging" the new tweeter to match the other tweeter. I was also told even things such as the tension of the screws matter and affect speaker performance and specifications. Those were things you just can't do yourself, if you want to have them done right. But the cost of the rebuilt was still a fraction of the cost of the speakers. So perhaps someone in-the-know can explain to us why a retip of a cartridge should cost nearly as much as its price when it's brand new.

Actus, The short answer is, it shouldn't, and it doesn't reflect the actual cost to the manufacturer of that repair. That's why SoundSmith and many others can do the same repair for much fewer dollars. The manufacturer is counting on audiophilia nervosa to drive the consumer back to him no matter what the cost. Or, at a less cynical level, the manufacturer is often giving you a new product in return, which probably does justify the cost, when that is the case.