Warning signs you have a worn out cartridge

I'm a big fan of Steve and Ray Leung of VAS, every cartridge they have solved for me or my friends has sounded excellent.

where do you live Rusty? I wanna hear that cartridge! I'm in Plainfield, NJ, 07062

is yours the modern N.S. version, or a prior version?

These specs popped up, they are for the NS version 

Kiseki Blue N.S. Moving Coil Phono Cartridge

The Kiseki Blue N.S. is the first “new style” Kiseki cartridge ever. The typical, but shorter, Kiseki body is machined out of solid aluminium, the motor is built from the best available parts today. Two years of experimenting, testing all possible choices of materials and techniques to result in a better new Kiseki Blue. A Kiseki Blue which surpasses the results of the original Kiseki Blue from the 80’s ánd of the more recent Kiseki Blue N.O.S. Only then we felt we had a reason to produce this Kiseki Blue N.S.

Specs:

Body: Aluminum Alloy 25 mm Long

Cantilever: Solid Boron Rod 0.28 mm Diameter

Stylus: 0,12 x 0,12 Nude Line-Contact Diamond Mirror Polished

Stylus Tip Radius: 5 x 120 µm

Vertical Tracking Angle (VTA): 20 Degrees

Coil: Pure Iron Coil Body

Weight: 8.15 Grams

Output Voltage: 0.44 mV at 5 cm/s

Internal Impedance: 40 Ohms

Frequency Response: 20 – 25,000 Hz ± 1 dB

Channel Balance: ​0.4 dB

Channel Separation: 35 dB at 1 kHz

Tracking Ability 315 Hz 2.6g Tracking Force: 80 µm

Dynamic Compliance: 16 µm/mN

Recommended Loading: 400 Ohms

Recommend Tracking Force: 1.8 – 2.6 Grams

Optimum Tracking Force: 2.4 Grams

That’s nice to hear, Elliot, but has anyone ever posted on this forum that any rebuild of any cartridge turned out badly?  Meaning the cartridge sounded bad or worse than beforehand? (Of course we have seen complaints about long delays or exorbitant costs, but I cannot recall anyone saying the work done by any of the many good retippers often mentioned in this space was subpar. This is actually a good thing, but what does set one guy apart from the other guys who are also doing good work?  We’re all going by our very fallible ears and brains.

@viridian ​​@thebrokenrecord  Thanks for the great articles!

@billstevenson Thanks for your insights. I find them very helpful.

@elliottbnewcombjr I have the N.S. and I'm located in the Twin Cities.

I actually have a replacement cartridge in my possession, but being the cheap skate that I am, I want to milk every last penny out of the Kiseki.

I had an old Koetsu Onyx with a mild grungy / gritty / hazy sonic overlay only when playing the inner grooves of a record (last 2 tracks). It sounded pristine and amazing (about the best I’ve ever heard) on the outer and most middle grooves. And it still sounded good on the inner bits too but...yeah. It was clearly time for a new stylus. I did a full rebuild at Koetsu, which is sad because the new Koetsu motors do sound different - there was something unique about the vintage Onyx. In hindsight, I would send it to Groovetickler for just a retip (likely a whole new cantilever assembly).

Anyways, if you’re unsure I’d send it to GrooveTickler (see Instagram) for an assessment, and retip / rebuild if necessary. He can give an accurate assessment of stylus wear and remaining life. But if it sounds clean even through inner grooves, it’s probably OK. 

USB "microscope" pics are not adequate for metering stylus wear. They can detect gross damage and cleanliness (or lack thereof). 

If the problem is something other than worn stylus (coils, suspension, fractured stylus) it will usually be a very obvious problem to observe. And some cartridges can last for decades with nothing more than occasional retips.