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Expert stylus

Jack Barriere said:
Correct me if I'm wrong. Retipping is just a cut off cataliver re-glued with a new one and the motor assembly stays the same or do they do what Linn used to do save the body and put a new motor stylus assembly. Seems to me once your stylus is pooched, after so many hours of play, those rubber thing-a-ma-jiggies must need replacement too. Can you ever torque down a Troika though.
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Ive thought about this myself gluing in a new cantilever, but its mounting the
diamond on the cantilever thats the hard bit, and i think only esco can do this in the uk, anyone else offering this service is buying mounted diamons
and cantilever from japan.
 
I've just removed a Denon 103r from my LP12. I replaced it with a regular 103, thinking the better r version could be sent off to ESCo for a retip and new body. Has anyone done this lately? It would be good to know what the cost was and turnaround time.

- Dan
 
Dan,

My one was a new stock 103 which they did the service to. IIRC they could have done it to my existing cart but I would have had to do without. Anyway from my order to delivery was about 3-4 months. They won't do a new body (don't believe in them) but there are a few out there if you fancy one. Just be careful if you nude it after the ESCo treatment!

The cost of mine (bearing in mind it was a brand new cart) was £350. I assume the re-tip would be approximately that minus the cost of a new 103.

Cheers,

Nic.
 
Just slightly off topic here but it seems that we're wrong to assume that even the most carefully set stylus is perpendicular to the top of the cartridge body.

During developing the tonearm I designed years ago, we subjected the output to scrutiny using a downloaded programme with some trick speccy analysis and discovered that
even a new Audi Technica AT33EV had to have azimuth adjustment of some 13 degrees from a visually 'correct' level before the inter-channel phasing synchronised.

The sound quality improved at once which quite surprised us as the azimuth appeared totally out of kilter.
 
I'm another very happy ESC customer having had my Troika re-tipped a couple of years ago. For a shade over £250 I have a very fine cartridge with a good few years left before I have to consider re-tipping and/or replacing.

It's true that the retipping required some planning by the customer to minimise time without a cartridge (requires booking in advance hence the comments about waiting several months, when in fact the cartridge was with ESC for 3 weeks).

Was it better that the Troika I sent in for re-tipping. Yes, of course it was. That one had a worn stylus on it. Is it better than the original. Quite possibly, but I can't honestly remember how good the Troika sounded in comparison as that was 20 years ago!! Not many original Troikas around these days for obvious reasons.

Highly recommended and superb value BTW.

Pete
 
Thanks Nic for the reply - kind of surprised they don't do 103 bodies considering the good press of the Zu, etc.
 
There are plenty of satisfied owners of Linn, Denon and other lowish level cart. retips, plus a couple of either previously knackered or decrepit/old Koetsus, but I wonder if anybody's had a high end cart. retipped or refurbished by ESCO (or any other ). Cart's like Urushi, Platinum and stone-bodied Ks, DV X1V S & T, Miyabi, ZYX, upper Lyras, Shelter, Transfiguration, upper Benz, etcetera.
 
Mike Reed said:
There are plenty of satisfied owners of Linn, Denon and other lowish level cart. retips, plus a couple of either previously knackered or decrepit/old Koetsus, but I wonder if anybody's had a high end cart. retipped or refurbished by ESCO (or any other ). Cart's like Urushi, Platinum and stone-bodied Ks, DV X1V S & T, Miyabi, ZYX, upper Lyras, Shelter, Transfiguration, upper Benz, etcetera.
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Hi Mike
Just had a transfiguration temper re tipped very pleased with the results!

The only downside I can see with expert is the time scale to have it repaired,it's at least a few months.
 
Swapping a new tip on a less expensive cart should be little different to doing it on an expensive one. Regardless of how fancy the generator /mounting assembly is on the cart in question, replacing the stylus still remains as being exactly the same task. All that matters is if the new stylus is as good as the one it replaces- that's a matter of taste. There are only a handful Of great line contact stylus designs in existence. Ortofon, gyger, expert paratrace, and one other that escapes me- the other brands all buy from these sources. There are literally only half a dozen companies worldwide that make stylus.
 
sq225917 said:
Swapping a new tip on a less expensive cart should be little different to doing it on an expensive one. Regardless of how fancy the generator /mounting assembly is on the cart in question, replacing the stylus still remains as being exactly the same task. All that matters is if the new stylus is as good as the one it replaces- that's a matter of taste. There are only a handful Of great line contact stylus designs in existence. Ortofon, gyger, expert paratrace, and one other that escapes me- the other brands all buy from these sources. There are literally only half a dozen companies worldwide that make stylus.
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It would be interesting to know where Koetsu get their styli from or if they make their own.
 
dan m said:
Thanks Nic for the reply - kind of surprised they don't do 103 bodies considering the good press of the Zu, etc.
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I have had a couple of interesting conversations with Wyndham on that subject. Let's just say that he's satisfied that the new cantilever/stylus makes (at least) the vast majority of the improvement when combined with a new body!

Out of interest, what exactly is the Zu mod? I know they select donor carts carefully and re-body. What else?

Cheers,

Nic.
 
Nic Robinson said:
....

Out of interest, what exactly is the Zu mod? I know they select donor carts carefully and re-body. What else?

Cheers,

Nic.
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That's pretty much it apart from potting the innards with a clear epoxy but they are quite rigorous when it comes to selection. Apparently they reject 2 out of 3 donor carts which goes some way to explain the cost of the Zu carts.
 
Mike Reed said:
There are plenty of satisfied owners of Linn, Denon and other lowish level cart. retips, plus a couple of either previously knackered or decrepit/old Koetsus, but I wonder if anybody's had a high end cart. retipped or refurbished by ESCO (or any other ). Cart's like Urushi, Platinum and stone-bodied Ks, DV X1V S & T, Miyabi, ZYX, upper Lyras, Shelter, Transfiguration, upper Benz, etcetera.
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I had a Kontra B refilled by them. As far as I can recall it's every bit as good as it was before it wore out. Certainly I've no complaints about it....
 
Mike Reed said:
There are plenty of satisfied owners of Linn, Denon and other lowish level cart. retips, plus a couple of either previously knackered or decrepit/old Koetsus, but I wonder if anybody's had a high end cart. retipped or refurbished by ESCO (or any other ). Cart's like Urushi, Platinum and stone-bodied Ks, DV X1V S & T, Miyabi, ZYX, upper Lyras, Shelter, Transfiguration, upper Benz, etcetera.
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Mike

I had my Zyx Airy 1000-s reworked when the micro ridge stylus sheared after only 200 hours use.

Mr. Hodgson recommended that the cantilever be lapped and that his paratrace diamond be cemented directly to the cantilever after relapping.

He completed the job, auditioned it and pronounced that it was most satisfactory. He was delighted with the resulting sound.

I auditioned the cartridge and found that it sounded notably different from the original. There was less detailed retrieval and other changes. This I attributed to the larger radius of the paratrace diamond compared to the original micro ridge. I cannot say I share his enthusiasm for the changes.

The reworked cartridge was and is excellent, but not in my opinion such that I could recommend this particular reworking. That said, the cost was much less than sending it back to Zyx would have been. They replace just about everything.

Just in case anyone gets the wrong idea from the above, I am a very satisfied Esco customer, having used them for upwards of 25 years.
 
JADISMAN said:
It would be interesting to know where Koetsu get their styli from or if they make their own.
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Yes indeed; likewise Lyra and other esteemed Japanese cart's.

A year or two back, I read of retipped stylii coming adrft after small knocks or otherwise 'routine' use. I then read that ESCO used glue only; no crimping or whatever.

I'm happy to be shot down in flames here, but I believe most, if not all, higher level (i.e. >£1K) cart's have their tips affixed using more than glue.

I've never lost a stylus yet, despite previously using alcohol and brush (also AT637 where applicable/solid cantilever) on a regular basis, despite reading many exhortations of apocalyptic nemesis.Therefore have never availed myself of a retipping service.
 
I contacted Expert this morning ( by telephone ) and they said the cartridge could not be examined until July. A £35 fee is charged for examination. They said I could send it now, if I wished to, so I did. I will fit my trusty Shure M75ED until 'The Return of the Entre'. MGM.
 
I would have thought that under the forces involved crimping can never be as good as bonding - that´s my impression anyway. But what do I know.
My Paratraced Troika is into its 2nd year and all is well, fingers crossed. I´ll certainly be going back for more when and if.
 
Mike Reed said:
Yes indeed; likewise Lyra and other esteemed Japanese cart's.

A year or two back, I read of retipped stylii coming adrft after small knocks or otherwise 'routine' use. I then read that ESCO used glue only; no crimping or whatever.

I'm happy to be shot down in flames here, but I believe most, if not all, higher level (i.e. >£1K) cart's have their tips affixed using more than glue.

I've never lost a stylus yet, despite previously using alcohol and brush (also AT637 where applicable/solid cantilever) on a regular basis, despite reading many exhortations of apocalyptic nemesis.Therefore have never availed myself of a retipping service.
Click to expand...

ES provides a compound to clean its stylus. They specifically say to not use solvents, vibrating stylus cleaners or the green sandpaper on their rebuilds. I've stuck to using their compound for the last ten years or so and have had no problems with the several ES rebuilds I've had. Highly recommend their work!
 
Crimping is just done to provide the flat surface to attach the stylus onto, it's done before the stylus is fitted.

Stylus are either bonded nude, ie glued to the flattened cantilever end. Bonded with their mounting plate, a tiny little metal plate to which they are fastened for shaping. Or they are shanked through a laser cut, or similar, hole and then glued.
 
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