[kgturner]

I recently bought a turntable package and as part of the deal, the seller included a Dynavector DV-20XL. He stated the cartridge was in excellent condition with only 100 hours on it. I received the package today.

To my eyes, it appears that the cantilever is turned a full 90 degrees so that instead of facing down, it's facing directly to the left. I'll need to really look at it with a jeweler's loupe, but it looks bad to me. Can this cart be rebuilt or is it garbage? Who do I contact to rebuild it? I'm trying to contact the seller to reach an amicable agreement, but he has yet to return my email from this afternoon.

Kevin T

[dangerbird]

Peter Lederman at soundsmith

http://www.sound-smith.com/retip/

[kgturner]

Thanks for the info. I'd heard of Soundsmith before through people discussing re-tipping their carts, but didn't know if they could handle this as well. I'll email Soundsmith and see what can be done. As a side note, the seller has contacted me so hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement.

Kevin T

[ricmon]

Thanks for the info. I'd heard of Soundsmith before through people discussing re-tipping their carts, but didn't know if they could handle this as well. I'll email Soundsmith and see what can be done. As a side note, the seller has contacted me so hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement.

Kevin T

Peter and the team at Th Sound Smith are very approachable it would probably be best to give them a call instead of an email.  I've never seen a post (and from personal experience, I had 2 carts repaired by Peter) were folks have communicate with Peter by email.  Plus once Peter see your cart he'll definitely going  to have some advise on it's maintenance and what was done to it for repairs.

good luck
Ric

[kgturner]

Ric:

That's kinda what I figured so I called Soundsmith this afternoon and got a Repair Authorization #. I'm gonna ship them the cartridge tomorrow. Hopefully the cartridge is saveable without too much expense. The seller agreed to cover the cost of the repair up to $200 and I agreed to cover anything over that. Here's the damage:

http://kgturner.home.mchsi.com/images/20XL-A.jpg
http://kgturner.home.mchsi.com/images/20XL-B.jpg
http://kgturner.home.mchsi.com/images/20XL-C.jpg
http://kgturner.home.mchsi.com/images/20XL-D.jpg
http://kgturner.home.mchsi.com/images/20XL-E.jpg
http://kgturner.home.mchsi.com/images/20XL-F.jpg

Kevin T

[SteveFord]

That doesn't look quite right, does it?

[kgturner]

That's what I thought when I first saw it.

Kevin T

[Listens2tubes]

It was good not to try any kind of "fix" yourself. I've read where some would try turning it to "re-align" the tip. BAD IDEA. Peter at Soundsmith will be able to fix it better than new.

[kgturner]

Yeah, I've heard that as well. I've only been into vinyl for a little over year, but I understand that there's a lot more going on behind the cantilever than I care to (or have the ability to) mess with. I'll leave that in somebody else's more capable hands. I shipped the cartridge to Soundsmith this afternoon so now the wait begins. I know it'll take a while for the actual repair, but I hope it doesn't take too long to at least get some information back on what the actual damage to the cart is.

One thing I learned from all this is that I will never, ever again buy a used cartridge without a high resolution image of the cantilever/stylus assembly.

Kevin T

[BobM]

You're lucky the seller is willing to foot part of the repair bill. Nothing worse than trying to "re-negotiate" after the product is delivered and the money is paid. Then again, the audiophile industry is generally pretty good with a lot of gentlemen buying and selling.

Any chance of making a claim to the delivery company for damage during shipping?

[kgturner]

It was shipped via FedEx and the outer box showed no sign of damage so I seriously doubt there's any recourse there. I've been trying to reach the seller via email, but he's not responding. I have his cell number so I can try to reach him. He works for a high end store in the northeast so he may just be busy doing installs with clients.

Kevin T

[Letitroll98]

Is there any thought to how this happened?  Was the cart mounted on the arm and something came loose during shipping and hit it?  That's the only thing I can imagine and if so, an incredibly poor job of packing, the cart should always be removed and packed separately.  I've shipped and received lots of cartridges and never had this type or magnitude of damage. 

What I'm getting at is the seller is 100% responsible for this, not just $200.  If there is no internal damage, you'll prolly get a new cantilever and stylus for about that, but with no guarantee it will sound nearly as good as the original.  All of the retippers seem to do a good job of remounting new styli, but with much more mixed reviews for replacing cantilevers.  This goes for Soundsmith, Van den Hull, Expert Stylus, etc.  Personally, I'd go for a refund, but that's just me.  Best of luck regardless.

[kgturner]

I'm not really sure how it happened. The cart was mounted on the arm when I received the table. The stylus guard was in place but wrapped around in blue painters tape. I don't want to out and out accuse the guy of shipping a bum cart, but I'm not sure how it could've been damaged. The worst part of it all to me was that he shipped the original packing for the cart. The amount of time he spent wrapping it in tape would've been the same amount of time it would take to unmount the cartridge and put it back in it's much more secure packaging. The reason I settled on $200 was that when I added up everything he sold me, I basically paid $200 for the cartridge.

Kevin T

[Sonny]

Kevin,

Looks nasty that bent cantilever...don't know how that could have happened!
Anyway, there's a nice Shelter 301 Mkii, brand new, that I have and would be willing to sell, if you're interested.  FYI, Sound Smith has my Dynavector XX-1 and I hope to get it back in a few weeks....

T

[neobop]

It was shipped via FedEx and the outer box showed no sign of damage so I seriously doubt there's any recourse there. I've been trying to reach the seller via email, but he's not responding. I have his cell number so I can try to reach him. He works for a high end store in the northeast so he may just be busy doing installs with clients.

Kevin T

This is nonsense. Seller knew full well exactly what was going on. Get your $200 back ASAP.

You'll find out after awhile, might be quite awhile, if it can be repaired. A MC has the cantilever connected directly to the coils so who knows what it looks like inside. If Peter can fix, it's $250 for a ruby/line contact replacement and $350 for the ruby/micro line contact. He did a DL-304 for me that came out beautifully - better than new. The other one he did for me was a stylus replacement only. I think you sent it to the right guy. VDH might be the only other person who could fix that for you. Good luck.
neo

[kgturner]

I talked with Peter today after receiving an email from him last night. He told me to call David and have him measure the Dynavector for continuity. I just got off the phone with David and everything check out fine so the coils weren't damaged. I told them I wanted the ruby/line contact replacement so now it's a matter of waiting.

Kevin T