I'll echo your comments.
Peter Ledermann, the Soundsmith himself, has rebuilt 2 of my cartridges, a Cardas Heart and an Audio Tekne. In my opinion he did magic for both of them.
The Heart had mysteriously stopped working. It only needed repair; it did not need or get a new cantilever and stylus. The tiny little coil wires had opened up in a couple places - who knows why, as it had been sitting in its box for a year and worked when I put it away - and Peter spent hours and hours performing microsurgery. He actually operates on these things under a microscope. Peter could have prescribed a new tip, but he reported honestly that the stylus and cantilever were like new. The Heart performed superbly after Peter's repair. When I sold it to another member here, they did not hesitate to buy it after I told them of Peter's repair.
The Heart is a great cartridge, in my opinion.
Peter also repaired an Audio Tekne that had just come back to me from a re-tip by the manufacturer. It sounded awful when AT returned it. It mistracked horribly and presented a muddled soundstage. The AT was never a great tracker, but better than this, and its strong suit was its superb soundstage. I sent it to Peter and he found that Audio Tekne had run the winding lead-outs around the motor such that they were in tension on the motor assembly, thereby interfering with the cantilever's freedom. He again reported the situation honestly, did not prescribe a new stylus and cantilever, and performed the repair to relieve the strain in the wires. Peter restored the cartridge to its previously high standard of performance.
Neither of these was a normal or inexpensive job. Replacing a stylus and cantilever is a lot simpler and cheaper than the wiring repair on the Cardas Heart. But Peter performed this work himself, and consulted me several times on the telephone. He made every effort to satisfy me, and left me highly impressed with his ability, his integrity, and his customer-oriented approach to business. When my new Dynavector needs a stylus, I'll call on the Soundsmith again.
I understand that he makes tremendous improvements in the Denon DL-103, already one of the finest carts in its price range.
Cheers
YoungDave
VPI HR-X
Manley Steelhead
Dynavector XV-1s
