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Can I cry now? Just snapped the cantilever off My Benz Micro Gullwing

Not meant to be cynic, and of course I understand your pain.

Its just not going to happen here anymore,
My most expensive MC ownership these days, are Hana entry-level and an old MC30 Super.

Next purchase planned, Audio Technica VM95 and a Grado €100, both which is not MC
I love the coherence you sometime get from that stable.

I've owned in the past: Koetsu, Kiseki, SPU, Lyra, DV, trojka etc..just no longer have the guts and steady hands.
I can perfectly enjoy music on the cheapskate
 
PerF said:
I've owned in the past: Koetsu, Kiseki, SPU, Lyra, DV, trojka etc..just no longer have the guts and steady hands.
I can perfectly enjoy music on the cheapskate
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I understand this, and having recently put an old Ortofon VMS20E on one of my arms (and not a theoretically suitable one either), I and others have been very surprised indeed by what it achieves. I've had sessions with just this cart. and enjoyed it. However, when I switch to my Transfig. Proteus, magic and unencumbered transparency and dynamics transport the music to another level. It's not chalk and cheese as suggested by the foregoing and if the comparison wasn't there, one would be happy with the m/magnet. The price difference, of course, is staggering, but that's hifi !

Luckily for my age, I have reasonably steady hands (although one is enough !) and my 12" arms are so easy and precise to cue. Eyesight is an increasing problem, though more proximate and dedicated lighting could help here, I s'pose.

Of all the items forming the audio chain, the cartridge surely has to be the most delicate, demanding of set-up and fragile. I've yet to downgrade in 50+ years, but whether I'll now aspire to a K. stone-bodied or similar esoteric cart. is now in doubt. The ears attune to and enjoy a particular presentation, and it isn't until you experience what a couple of rungs up the ladder can bring to the party that you realise that despite the diminishing returns factor, that little extra frisson of excitement can create a whole new aspect to one's record collection.
 
I worked in hi-fi stores from the late 60's into the 90's -probably set up/installed a couple of thousand carts in that time - have never broken or bent a new stylus (or used for that matter) EXCEPT for : a MC-201 Fidelity Research , a Monster Alpha Genisis , a Grado TLZ ( geez -just can't remember the fourth??) -two of these I didn't own -but paid for. About six months ago I was asked to install a very upper end Soundsmith cart for a proud new owner - thought about it over dinner and just plain decided I wasn't going to do it -not in the biz anymore and couldn't see why I'd want to chance it ?
 
I usually get the dealer to install any cart I buy. Around the time I bought a Denon 103R online, I sent my turntable to be checked over and had him ensure that the cart and arm were adjusted correctly. So I really do not have that much experience swapping carts around. I buy, have it installed and "forget" - in the sense that I do not make changes to my cart very often. I have only owned 3-4 carts in the past 30 years.
 
It has some blu-tac on the inner cannister bottom, effectively 'clinging' to the front of the headshell. No movement.
 
Theo said:
I came up with this solution.
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Great idea, Theo. However, it strikes me that its success does also depend upon the shape/size of the head-shell. An innovation here could be a similar canister, but transparent (translucent at a pinch as some film canisters used to be).

My Benz had a bespoke st/steel clip which guarded the stylus assembly well. Not really that functional for everyday use, but better than the one provided by Benz, which is NOTHING. My Transfiguration stylus guard is so fiddly and small, you'd probably bugger up the cantilever by fitting it whilst on the arm. The best I've come across is Koetsu; a doddle and you can't go wrong, and Lyra, which is easily fitted in situ

This is not a subject which has had much exposure on here or elsewhere, to my knowledge, but it is an important one. Somebody out there with the ideas, skills, nous and general knowledge of different arms and head-shells could, I'm sure, come up with something which, although maybe not universal, covers those cart's at risk and create a small niche business.
 
Been there, come home from the pub rather well oiled with the ex misses and some mates, popped Bob Marley’s Legend on, and then somehow managed to clout the head shell with the remote... took the cantilever off an almost new Linn Akiva... I cried at the wrath of my misses, she was not pleased. Insurance paid for all but the excess though.
 
Cleaners bent the cantilever on my Goldring Eroica. Though could have been my daughter when she was a toddler.

Before I decided what to do I thought I’d get a cheap MM fill in. Within an hour of fitting that I’d wrecked the cantilever on that and has to go back to the store to buy a replacement.

I haven’t been brave enough to do anything about that shambles since and the TT has been packed away for 18 months since a house restoration.

Good luck OP..!
 
I have a Koetsu Urushi. I had it retipped by Van Den Hul about 3 years ago for about £500 and am delighted.

Turntable is in an enclosed unit, bespoke built to avoid accidents.
 
sls4321 said:
have a Koetsu Urushi. I had it retipped by Van Den Hul about 3 years ago for about £500 and am delighted.
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Breath of fresh air. Past experiences of forum members and a former dealer haven't painted a rosy picture of VdH's re-tipping service when it comes to Koetsus. This could have been about their stylus profile (Fritz Geiger?) changing the K 'flavour'; I don't know. However, the go-to re-tipper (and refurbisher) for Ks now seems to be Goldring. This is, however, received wisdom on my part. I do have a K Urushi Vermillion though (in a drawer for a couple of years awaiting re-entry from its dark Cinderella world).
 
Mike Reed said:
Breath of fresh air. Past experiences of forum members and a former dealer haven't painted a rosy picture of VdH's re-tipping service when it comes to Koetsus. This could have been about their stylus profile (Fritz Geiger?) changing the K 'flavour'; I don't know. However, the go-to re-tipper (and refurbisher) for Ks now seems to be Goldring. This is, however, received wisdom on my part. I do have a K Urushi Vermillion though (in a drawer for a couple of years awaiting re-entry from its dark Cinderella world).
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I think I called Dave Shaw (HiFi Dave) and it was his suggestion, but I can't be sure.

The thing was OK, just a worn and possibly chipped tip. Before that I spoke to Northwest Analogue and they started talking about rebuilding and starting at £1,500, not actually listening to me, so I had to hang up. There guy was an insufferable bore, easy with spending my money.

I also have a DV XX-2 Mk2 which I bought when they still cost under £1,000 new and is still in good condition. I don't think I would ever go beyond that price again.

The fact is, my records are cleaned with a Loricraft, I use a Furutech brush occasionally, a Dust Buster pad to clean the tip every 3 or 4 sides and the turntable is in an enclosed unit even when being played, so there is little exposure to dust and my room is almost dust-free anyway. As a result, I rarely have to do any aggressive cleaning to the stylus and there is negligible mechanical wear and tear, so I get pop-and-click free playback and expect my cartridges to last many years.

I appreciate vinyl is a mechanical system and records only have a dynamic range of just over half of 16/44 digital, but the detail retrieval and subtlety of sound I get from vinyl playback continues to amaze me. I've recently bought about 20 of the Pure Pleasure remasters and they are mostly fabulous.
 
I don't really get stylus guards, except for during fitting/removal it seems far more likely to risk writing off a cart taking one of these off and on all the time.

My TT has a lid, the only time I risk damaging the stylus is when cueing a record, touch wood I've never damaged one and I've been known to do back-to-back testing of various carts over the space of a few hours.
 
matt j said:
I don't really get stylus guards, except for during fitting/removal it seems far more likely to risk writing off a cart taking one of these off and on all the time.

My TT has a lid, the only time I risk damaging the stylus is when cueing a record, touch wood I've never damaged one and I've been known to do back-to-back testing of various carts over the space of a few hours.
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I have two tonearms on my turntable, for stereo M/C and mono or stereo M/M, and the latter is a Jelco 750D with removable head. It's actually a far better arrangement because if you want to inspect or do some more aggressive cleaning you just unscrew it and bob's your uncle. In the old days they were mostly removable. For those of a nervous disposition it's probably quite a good option.
 
matt j said:
I don't really get stylus guards, except for during fitting/removal
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Well, Matt; that's one bloody good reason to have one. Going through the paraphernalia of fitting a cart. to a fixed head-shell and then setting it all up is much less fraught if you have a guard (esp. fitting). For actual use, well, no; I keep mine naked because I have a secure arm clip, but used to put the Koetsu one on when fitted on another (no clip) arm.
 
Always happens to the first esoteric MC cart, my cardiac moment happened many moons ago,
Ortofon MC5000 at the end of a Moerch DP6 arm, upon fitting it to the arm wand,
laid the screw driver where I though was far enough away, bang!!!...it attached itself to the cart and the wand with it,
faster than the blink of an eye,MC carts should come with an warning about its strong magnets,
if you come from a MM cart, you don't know.
 
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