New cartridge vs. Re-tipped

Like @dwette said.  And try and do some research on your specific case. Who did the re-tip? If you can find out, read reviews of their work.

I had a Denon DL103 with a missing cantilever. I sent it off to an independent re-tipper who had great feedback.  The upgraded cart I got back was transformed to another level. There are good re-tippers out there.

I had my Ortofon cart retipped at Soundsmith.....very pleased....sound better than the original....no down side

To follow on my previous post. I had my Dynavector XV-1s factory rebuilt early last year. It came back better than it ever was before. The distributor (he’s local to me and told me himself) said when they rebuilt it they included improvements to the design they had made since mine was new. Only the body and magnets remained from the original. I essentially got an improved version of my original that’s like new, and it sounds better than I ever remember the original.

OTOH: I had someone tell me a 3rd party retip they got back was a butcher job. The re-tip servicer cut off the cantilever and slipped another one over the remaining shaft with a new tip, but it changed the sound and performance for the worse.

I suppose you get what you pay for. Do the research if the cartridge has value. I have two Lyra Atlas and a DV XV-1s. I plan to stand pat with official factory rebuilds for them all. It’s costly but factory service preserves the cartridges as they are meant to be.

@dwette @stringreen @nwres 

Gentlemen, I appreciate your responses. They have helped a lot.

In this particular case I am looking at a Lyra cartridge that was re-tipped by Soundsmith. I have not talked with the seller yet, but I am assuming that the workmanship is good, but Soundsmith probably did not use Lyra authorized parts, which if correct would likely mean that the sound profile of the cartridge could be somewhat different than a factory built Lyra. Do you concur or do you think I am off base?

Thanks.