New cartridge vs. Re-tipped

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.

You are 100% correct that a retipped Lyra cartridge by SoundSmith most likely will not have the identical sonic sig but that doesn't mean it would be worse. Soundsmith when doing retips has several choices, I know from experience. From 2 I've had done (Kuzma cartridges) I thought they sounded slightly better than original. Again my own experience. 

I have never seen a single post from anyone ever saying they were not extremely pleased with a Soundsmith or VAS retip. Whether the sound was 100% the same I can’t say, but I think it’s important to do what the retipper thinks will work best. I’ve had 2 done and in both cases, they recommended leaving the cantilever and replacing the stylus only. I was very satisfied with the work both times.  That said, if money is a big issue, I would probably move down one level on the cartridge and buy new if I didn’t know the owner. Was the retipped cartridge ever used?  Or straight from the retipper to you?  Unless you know the seller, that could be a risk, IMO.

I had my Lyra Skala rebuilt by Soundsmith, and didn't especially care for its new sonic signature.  IMO, the difference in cantilever material fundamentally changed the sound of the cartridge.  It's not bad per se, but it's no longer a Lyra.  I don't think I'd send another cart to Soundsmith since I think their generic 'one size fits all' approach seems a bit heavy handed.  I'm going to send it to Joseph Long, and see what he can do with it.  He seems to have a wider array of materials (including boron cantilevers), as well as identical profile Ogura diamonds.  His backlog is lengthy however.  Just my 2¢.