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Cartridge fitting service

IceG… roughly where is home for you?
You may find a fellow fishie who lives close by willing to take the job on.
As for £500-£1k being “ entry level”, it kinda is for an MC Cart, even though it’s undoubtedly a fair chunk of money out of your pocket.
A Hana Or an Ortofon Quintet black would be my choice in that range. Both excellent. It may be worth mentioning which phono stage you are using, as imho, the cart-phono stage pairing is important.
Hope you get something sorted.
 
O.p., I'm still not sure whether those dealers refused to just install for travel money etc. or refused to install the cart. you're buying from them. If the latter, I'm quite dismayed, assuming it's a reasonably local dealer (and you're well positioned in the Smoke).

For a Xerxes, a non suspended deck (having had one, I hope I remember correctly !!!), transportation shouldn't be a problem provided the dealer has car parking, so I don't see it as crucial to have this done at home.

As Manicatel above mentions, your choice of cart. should certainly be chosen to complement your arm eff. mass AND your phono stage vis a vis the cart. loading and output. A Lyra (if that's your taste) is one of the most versatile cart's out there regarding synergy. Of course, there are Benz (warmer side of neutral), Hana (ditto) and Ortofon as mentioned, AT and other brands at that level. Of those, the Hana might benefit from a heavier mass tonearm (14/15g+?) though I don't know your O.L. arm spec's.
 
IceG said:
I had been planning to sell my Roksan Xerxes 10 in order to try some alternative higher-end turntables but, as it seems that there is no market interest, I am considering refitting a cartridge and relearning its capabilities.

An MC cartridge in the £500-£1000 range seems appropriate but am concerned that my ham-fistedness could destroy an expensive and delicate component in an instant. So I tried phoning around a few dealers in London to see if any would be prepared to provide an at-home fitting service, thus getting a safe solution without having to cart a turntable around London which in itself is risky and difficult due to traffic and parking restrictions. None of them were interested and one was almost abrupt in saying no.

Is it unreasonable (COVID issues aside) to ask for such a service? Obviously I would be prepared to pay for time and travel and it would be a key purchase decision criteria for something which has a significant mark-up.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a business which know and understand cartridges and which might come to my aid.
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Hi,

I’d suggest this: find a Roksan dealer who sells the cartridge you want. I’d suggest a Hana S or, better yet, M series. Remove your tonearm, armboard and all, and ship to said dealer. It would be a simple matter, for that dealer to install the cartridge and return cartridge, arm and armboard to you. You'd need to fine tune VTA and tracking force, but you’d want to do that anyway as your cartridge broke in. Certainly, if you were in Canada or for that matter the ‘States, I’d do this for you.
 
There should be plenty of enthusiasts out there who could fit it for you, just a matter of finding them. I'm very familiar with fitting & aligning arms/cartridges as I like delicate tasks - I changed a worn out Ortofon for a new ART9 on my SME without any traumas. Too far away though as I'm in N.Yorks. Just don't ask me to hang any wallpaper. :(
 
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