re-tipping Dynavector17D?

@lewm 

I don't follow. My name is Dusty Segretto, and I have a pretty easy internet trail to follow if you'd like to know more about me, and who I am. 

Also, feel free to message me directly if you have any concerns about my identity. (What an odd thing to have to post on an audio site.....)

I am happy with my service on re-tipping a Dynavector 17D, and so I'm sharing my experience on a post about re-tipping Dynavector 17D cartridges. 

And on that note, anyone near enough to Louisville who would like to hear this re-tipped cartridge, feel free to contact me! Chakster included!

Reviving this thread, as I have a Dynavector Karat 17D (original) that I have at a repair person to reconnect a broken wire. That job is done, and he’s offering to do a line contact stylus for $500 or a .2/.7 elliptical for $250. 

Is it even possible to get a new diamond into the square-cut hole where the original diamond was bonded? Would he just be gluing a new diamond to the tip?

He has responded, and he reports that he has done this many times, to great success. He removes the old stylus, and has small enough styli to fit back into the hole (or split, as it sometimes is), and re-bond it. 

I'll report back on how it sounds when I receive it!

I’m here to follow up on my re-tipping experience, now that I have received it back and have given the cartridge about 50 hours of break-in.

I used Joseph (cartridge_retipping-5 on eBay) to re-tip with the elliptical stylus, and I’ll see if I can capture in words the result of the work he did.

Getting this cartridge retipped by Joseph is the single biggest jump my system has ever taken. I would describe the difference as how it feels looking at a poster of a painting, versus the feeling of looking at the original painting itself. The texture, the brush strokes, the way the light hits it, all there. Sonically, this translates to pinpoint objects in 3D space, luscious midrange, a presence I’ve never felt from my records before.

It is perfectly tracking passages I literally thought were just blown out on the vinyl. Joni Mitchell - Blue, “This Flight Tonight” 2:20 “Star light, star bright” passage is a real screamer for every cartridge I’ve owned, so I figured it was the vinyl. It now sounds as if her upper extension has no limit, perfect tone all the way up.

In a word: incredible.

I cannot recommend his services enough. It leaves me wondering though...how much BETTER could it have been with the line contact? I will be using him again when the need arises, and I’ll most likely be going the upgraded route to see.

I posted up some pictures under the microscope of the re-tip job. Superb work!

https://imgur.com/gallery/i7m3i7V

I understand your concerns.

I am trusting my ears on this one, and it sounds incredible! I doubt the added mass of the glue would change the sound. This went from a broken cartridge to an absolutely beautiful sounding one, and I have no regrets. 

The OP asked what the cost of a re-tip would be, and if it's worth it. I have included the cost I paid above, and my opinion is that it's absolutely worth it. 

I think your opinion about the craftsmanship is also valuable, and would hope the OP takes this into consideration, along with my first-hand impressions of how good the cartridge sounds after re-tipping.

I would like to disclose that I have never met Joseph, and that I have no affiliation with his business or anything to gain (financial or otherwise) from my review. I'm just a happy customer who trusts his ears and has been enjoying this new cartridge immensely!

Also, may I remind everyone, this is a HOBBY. It’s just a fun thing to do, a cool thing to enjoy. There’s really no reason to be negative about this work without having heard the results, especially since it’s all about the music, am I right?