2. analog
  3. 1390089154

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

Showing 1 response by kevmcc

kevmcc
1 posts
 

All

I would like to provide my feedback about a fantastic experience with Andy Kim as well! I recently pulled out my old Accutrac 4000! for the past 30 years it was on display as a conversation piece.  Feeling a bit nostalgic, I connected it and found it worked perfectly except the stylus was in bad shape, but the original LMA 1 seemed to be ok.  after an exhaustive search I determined I could not find a replacement stylus or an original ADC cartridge.  Most suggested, replacing the cartridge completely and forgoing the functionality that made the Accutrac appealing 40 years ago.  This wasn't an option for me.  This led me to explore   retipping as an option. The initial contacts I made informed me I the process could take weeks to as much as a month to send in and expect a return.  Then I contacted Andy.  Andy responded promptly and was also local!  He retipped my original LMA 1 in 2 hours while I waited!  I suspect that others I contacted ship out the work as opposed to performing the work in house.  The new stylus (Micro Ridge Boron) now rivals my main Turntable (Music Hall IKura with a Orthron  2m Black cartridge)

Many tanks to Andy for his great work and prompt service!!

More to discover