Threaders : Peter of Soundsmith is a rare genius in the field of cartridge rebuild. Many of us have been content until listening to his work. In my world of audio-heads here and across the pond , Peter is the most respected cartridge builder. Please consider these comments before thrashing $$$$ rather than a re-build. Cheers !
Koetsu Restoration
I just finished a weekend listening to a Koetsu Black I had restored by Soundsmith and thought I should share this with other members. I had it restored with Soundsmith's Ruby Cantilever and Optimized Contour. Their top of the line restoration. I have to confessed I never expected the out of the box performance I heard on this cartridge. I installed it on a second system and my wife said it sounded better than my main system which is $10K more expensive. The level of expression and musicality on this restored cartridge was beyond my expectations. Enough said! Before you discard your old cartridge you may want to consider a restoration. I did and I am really happy with the results. This is the first time I have had a cartridge restored and I am already considering the restoration of two other classic cartridges I have.