Off center (not bent!) stylus?

@whart got it thanks for that. So do you always play your records from the first track only?

@whart I actually did put in a question to soundsmith with the same pics so hopefully will hear back from them too. 

And yes the stylus assembly is replaceable but this is a really rare cartridge and the original needle seems even more rare.

Which relates to my above question - how much of a difference is there between original vs replacement styli for vintage carts?

More specifically, is a replacement stylus basically going to have a completely different character than the original? (Kind of like how certain lines of carts have use the same cart body just with different needle types)

Is it better to try to get an old stylus retipped by someone like Soundsmith? Would that sound more true to the original than buying a replacement from a place like LPGear?

Generally, how responsible is the cart for sound reproduction vs the stylus? If I keep the cart and use a replacement stylus am I actually “hearing” that vintage cart? Or am I fooling myself?

Thanks!

@chakster you mean the stylus / cantilever is damaged not the cartridge, right? And in your experience how do replacement styluses affect performance on this cartridge? (btw I got this cart on your recommendation from a separate thread so thanks!)

Lastly same question I had before - what types of sound issues should I hear if this is in fact damaged like you and @mijostyn are saying? Imbalance between channels? Distorted / overly bright sound? Bad bass reproduction? Skipping?

@millercarbon based on your (and Peter Lederman's) description of the physics at work here, it seems to me that the cartridge is the far more important factor in sound quality - would you agree with that? What percentage would you put on that? Like 75% cartridge / 25% stylus? Or something more balanced?

Thanks for the responses!

It is garbage and should not be used. It will damage your records.

@mijostyn - if this is what's happening, would I hear any playback problems? What are the types of distortion that should be audible from bad / crooked azimuth? Would I see visible scratches in my records after test playing with the cartridge?

@millercarbon - thanks for the link and for the clarification of terms. I will listen to the link now. In the meantime it sounds like you are also suggesting that azimuth would be the biggest problem? I do agree with you that the stylus still seems relatively vertical. But same question to you - what should I be listening for to know if it is in fact too far off? Do you agree with @mijostyn that this could damage records?

Hauie

@whart Cool, thanks for that.

For everyone here, what audible issues should I hear from a problem like this? 

And what has been people's experience with retipping or replacement styli for vintage carts?

Thanks all - looks like LP Gear does have a replacement at a decent price so that is an option for sure. 

@chakster Thanks for the info on Expert Stylus - I will definitely contact them. 

Also I heard back from Soundsmith and their diagnosis was indeed that this is too far off angle to be innocuous. Most likely it is due to wear in the housing / base of the cantilever. Channel separation and tracking error are potential issues and I have heard both those problems. 

Also the guy I spoke with (Peter Green, not Lederman) said that they can only retip stylus assemblies that are not "user replaceable" and therefore he thought this one would probably not work for retipping. 

Lastly he said (I'm paraphrasing) that in terms of cartridge vs stylus, it is the cartridge that determines all the characteristics of the sound reproduction while the stylus and cantilever are responsible for providing the information to the cartridge.

So it seems to me that as long as a replacement stylus assembly is made with care and with the same materials as the original you can largely replicate the original sound. So sounds like Expert Stylus is where to go for this model!

@thom_at_galibier_design thanks so much for the detailed response that really helped me understand better. The stylus looks intact to me but I am only using a handheld jewelry magnifying glass (I think 40x). In order to really see damage you need something like 100x+ right?

In my further testing with this needle I have started to notice that it seems like it will sometimes fail to settle properly in the groove. In one very severe case I placed the needle in a middle track of a record and practically nothing but muffled thumps came out of the left channel while the right channel seemed fine. This problem was rectified by just raising the needle and dropping it again in the same place.

Does this make sense to folks as a problem that would be caused by this angled cantilever? That it can sometimes fail to catch a groove but once it catches sounds normal?

To the general question of why I am bothering with working through these issues rather than just buying brand new stuff... it's interesting and fun to me! I don't want to simply know that something is damaged I want to know why and how that affects playback.

So all your input is super helpful and maybe I will eventually be convinced to ditch vintage and go new. Or maybe not - who knows. But please feel free to keep firing away as all this is new to me and just helps fill in my (many many many) gaps of understanding.

@chakster Thanks - I just sent a note off to Expert Stylus so we'll see what they say.

@geof3 So I hesitate to say this because I know it's silly on some levels but I am basically trying to reproduce an all-vintage system. All my components are from the same / similar era (I do have all new / modern components for my home theater setup). And beyond the strong recommendation of @chakster I've also read up further on this cart and it seems like a one of a kind - especially for MM carts (I am limiting myself to a MM setup for now). I do have a Grace F8 in really good shape that I am generally happy with too so don't really mind waiting if it comes to that.

Yeah I hear you will just have to be patient. You're not selling yours are you?

Hey @chakster so I heard back from Expert Stylus and unfortunately they say they can't help repair or replace the stylus. 

Assuming I can't find the exact D5000 replacement would you recommend the other models in the line? The D3000 or D4000 or even D4500 stylus assemblies? 

Thanks!
Hauie

@chakster Gotcha, thanks for that - will look for a 4000 then. 

Regarding Expert Stylus Co., when I asked if they had any replacements or if I could get one custom made, Julia told me that "the suspension of the assembly is faulty. We are unable to repair this particular fault and no longer have any of this particular model in stock."

She later added "We do not have any (other) assemblies ourselves that would fit your cartridge." 
 
Have you asked them to make a custom stylus assembly before? And for Stanton / Pickering models? Or did they replace your cantilever and stylus on an otherwise functional assembly?

@chakster ah, too bad. Yeah Julia said the cantilever was too far gone to repair (damaged suspension) and said they didn't have any originals or replacements in stock.

What about the designs of the D3000 / D4000 / D4500? Based on what you know about them are any of them more or less similar to the D5000? Seems like someone has a D4500-Q NOS for sale but from what I can see is that is a "quadrahedron" rather than "stereohedron" but I have no idea what that means or if it matters.

Assume the D4000 is stereohedron? I guess maybe the best I can do is put the D5000 brush on different stylus model.