Broke my clearaudio stylus tradein or look at othe

I went the fastest route,traded it in for a new one at music direct,back in again in 2 days,sounds better than the old one.I called and emailed soundsmith with no replies,guess they don't care or want my business.Thanks for all the advise.

Have SoundSmith retip with their top line contact diamond w/ruby cantilever. I did so with a Virtuoso Wood and it was a major improvement.

An even cheaper fix ( though you may view it as temporary) is to buy an Audio-Technical AT-95 replacement stylus (available as elliptical, line contact, and Shibata profiles) then clip the "wings" and replace the stylus assembly yourself. This technique is well documented on several Internet sites. I was skeptical until I tried it myself -replacing a worn Aurum Beta S stylus with the Shibata version AT-95. Surprisingly simple, cheap, and a great improvement over the original.

Regardless of a broken tip or cantilever, If you are feeling brave with this cartridge there are other alternatives:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=88878.0

Dear Playpen: Your B&O is a top quality performer and IMHO a must to hear on your modified Rega I know you will be surprised as how good is that " tiny " MI cartridge.

+++++ " .I'm not that comfortable sending my cartridge to Germany. " +++++

I can't understand why because that is not big deal: you are not sending your cartridge to Uranus!!!!
I already send to Axel/Germany several cartridges that cost 10 times the Virtuoso or B&O cartridges with out no single problem but me is not the only person ( over the world ) with excelent Axel experiences, so don't worry about and do it a favor to your self.

The Nandric advise is first rate and if something wrong when you test your MMC2 you can send to Axel because things are that Axel is one of the two B&O Official Worldwide cartridge fix sources!

Another great alternative could be this one that you can get for penauts and that you can send to Axel to an up date:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/World-Famous-Astatic-Moving-Flux-Phonograph-Cartridge-MF-Series-Model-MF-300-/320928474738?pt=US_Record_Player_Turntable_Parts&hash=item4ab8d3e672#ht_500wt_1048

this Astatic with Axel up date is a tremendous performer.

So you have in your hands at least these three alternatives that for its not so high price you could take them all!!!!

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Thanks,yes I bent the cantilever.Another option I didn't think of was trying my B+O MMC2 but I will need the adapter for $50 just to try it.I played it on the Beogram TT but felt it needed a better table to fully realize itself.Then I don't know what condition that stylus is in.I'm not that comfortable sending my cartridge to Germany.My system is Rega planner 3 with mods,bryston B100,paradigm 60v5's and simaudio phono preamp.What is the mK33.3,is that the company name.

Don't be sad, probably it was a sign of god :-)

The Audiophile Version mK 33.3 .... MM/MC

Cartridge Yoda

Life is too short for mistakes

Playpen, I've seen Axel's name dropped quite a bit on the "Gon." From what I've read, he's the "Master of the Universe" of cartridge repairs. If you take Nandric's advice and use Axel, please report back on how you make out.

Another name I've seen mentioned is Peter Ledermann at Sound-Smith. I own a Sound-Smith VPI Zephyr. Peter just retipped it and it works like brand new.

As far as new cartridges are concerned, you may want to check out the Ortofon 2M Black. It's in the same price range as the Virtuoso exchange price. I tried it, but it wasn't compatible with my set-up. Although I'm not quite sure what the problem was, I suspect the output voltage may have been too "hot" for my Ref 5 linestage. I also thought the 2M was a bit bright and analytical. But to be fair, I didn't run it out long enough for break-in.

Finally, if Raul picks up this thread, he may be able to make some suggestions. You mat want to list your equipemnt because that may affect recommendations. Raul is the "Yoda" of cartridges.

If you mean with 'broke' the cantilever or stylus you may
consider yourself as a lucky guy. In this case You should post your cart to Axel in Germany (schallplattennadeln.de) and ask for a 'pressure fitted line contact stylus in a tapered aluminum cantilever'. You will then own the 'super
Virtuoso' as I do. I even searched on the German ebay for
the Virtuoso with a broken stylus. The cost +/- 150 Euro.

Regards,