Accuphase Cartridge

[The Grand Wazoo]

Anyone know anything about the Accuphase AC2 cartridge?

There's one on Ebay at the moment in need of a retip, which, I guess, might go for not too much.

I'm not in the market for a new cartridge as I have a spare Koetsu Black, but it might interest someone. I'd certainly like to know a little more about it - I've never heard or seen a bit of Accuphase kit that didn't impress me on some level, so I suspect it might be a bit of a peach.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Accuphase-Moving-Coil-Model-AC-2-Phono-Cartridge_W0QQitemZ140336684159QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ Turntable_Parts_Accessories?hash=item20acb7dc7f&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

[TKK]

In the mid 80s I had one mounted from a Syrinx PU3 and fed through Mitch Cotter step-ups. It rendered an enormous soundstage, a solid low end with heft and verve. The midrange was just a little short of the beguiling Koetsu Rosewood's, no surprise there, and all through the upper treble, it was similarly blissful as an Ortofon MC2000. It was miles superior to nearly everybody's darling today, the Denon 103. I would buy it without reservation if it was made available again.

I have hang-ups about re-tipping. This one from a reputed re-tipper illustrates how little we, the consumers, know about the process, and the level of redress, if any. Granted this may be an isolated case. I would request those who have used the Expert Stylus Co to fill in with full pics of the their re-builds.



http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj279/kee55/DenonSS103R_2-1.jpg

PS: I couldn't get the larger pic to load. The old cantilever was severed and the new glued on its upper surface, not through its hollow.

[TKK]

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj279/kee55/DenonSS103R_2.jpg


The bigger and therefore clearer pic has come through.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Kee,
Thanks for the information


In the mid 80s I had one mounted from a Syrinx PU3 and fed through Mitch Cotter step-ups. It rendered an enormous soundstage, a solid low end with heft and verve. The midrange was just a little short of the beguiling Koetsu Rosewood's, no surprise there, and all through the upper treble, it was similarly blissful as an Ortofon MC2000. It was miles superior to nearly everybody's darling today, the Denon 103. I would buy it without reservation if it was made available again.

Based on that assessment, my interest has stepped up a gear - well, several gears, actually!


I have hang-ups about re-tipping. This one from a reputed re-tipper illustrates how little we, the consumers, know about the process, and the level of redress, if any.

Re. the picture - yeuch!


Granted this may be an isolated case. I would request those who have used the Expert Stylus Co to fill in with full pics of the their re-builds.

My spare Koetsu Black is an original with a Van den Hul retip - It sounds great, but has lost a little of the Koetsu magic. However, the balance is redressed somewhat in that it now has some qualities that were never there before - such as more treble detail & a little more emphasis on the midrange - which some could argue is a bit recessed in the Black.

[DaveK]

Anyone know anything about the Accuphase AC2 cartridge?

There's one on Ebay at the moment in need of a retip, which, I guess, might go for not too much.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Accuphase-Moving-Coil-Model-AC-2-Phono-Cartridge_W0QQitemZ140336684159QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ Turntable_Parts_Accessories?hash=item20acb7dc7f&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

Hi Chris (or anyone else with an opinion),
In 'ball park' terms, how much is a retip of this cartridge likely to cost - any ideas?
Thanks for any opinions.
Cheers,

[hifi_dave]

It's a personal thing but I wouldn't have a cartridge worked on by anyone other than the manufacturer of the cartridge. I'm sure there are re-tippers out there who can do a decent job but they don't have the parts or the knowledge of the original designer/manufacturer. The results might be very good but they won't be as the designer intended.

In the case of the Accuphase, you probably have little choice but to resort to a re-tipper.

By the way, I have an Accuphase cartridge in my 'Museum' box. I believe it is an earlier model an AC1 I believe and it is bland - as bland as a bland thing from blandtown.:scratch:

[Varun]

Benz Micro also offer a re-tipping service. I can not comment on Re-tippers in general but please see what Stylus Expert's real business is- Precision diamond cutting and they are in demand from big organizations. Have a look at the company profile. The question is if people who make CD players and electronics are up to the same task? I had a long chat with the owner of the company some years ago and he was saying that when it comes to the diamond tip-many big names fall way short.

Chris, re-tip costs around 300 GBP.

Varun

[Mike]

I'll give a thumbs up to Expert Stylus too. I've used them before.

Excellent work and let you know in advance exactly whats needed, they'll inspect it first and tell you if it's a non starter. That'll cost you about £25.

[The Grand Wazoo]

I've had dealings with Len Gregory in the past (not with respect to cartridges, though) & he seems like a real gent who knows his business well. He comes with a good reputation too. I think I'd trust him with a retipping job.

[TKK]

As far as I know for certain, Ortofon, Dynavector and Denon (only in Japan) grant a rebate through their distributors to the user to buy another from their stable, to ensure brand loyalty. They mostly toss away the traded-in items as we can reasonably deduce they find it cost ineffective to refurbish like new the small shells that cartridges come in once they break into them. This brings me to the heart of the matter of re-tipping.

To assess the condition of the suspension or remove entirely the cantilever system in a moving coil cartridge, the re-tipper needs to break out the shell. Not all of them could be taken apart while others, once separated, would not fit whole again. The Denon 103 shell, on the surface, seems the easiest of the lot to do, yet the re-tipper in the pic I posted chose not to as he couldn't risk a process that was not fail-safe.

I doubt manufacturers use identical suspension materials. I doubt they equip re-tippers with spares or allow them to be bought by others. I doubt re-tippers have anywhere near complete know-how on the tuning of each and every make out there, or are even equipped to do so.

The Accuphase is a quarter of a century old design. As far as I recall, once we break it open, it's unlikely we can put it together again without some kind of stress fracture. So, what's the re-tipper to do?

I have seen a pic of a Len Gregory re-fitted AC2, which had been put up for sale but not heard it, nor spoken with the user. It had a new cantilever with a new stylus joined through the hollow of the old. I doubt he did anything else except casually listen to it before dispatch.

[Varun]

Very interesting discussion.

I have had my Koetsu black re-tipped once- and it performed excellently and the same with Dynavector XX-1. I can assure you-nothing short of the "as good" performance would have pleased me. Any slightest weakness in sound reproduction and the cartridge would have been dumped.

The Te Kaitoa model of Dynavector cartridge is made in New Zealand and that too by a HI-FI dealer- who is also responsible for the "Phono-Stage". I heard it once and thought who on earth would ever buy it?

Stylys Expert when they return the cartridge send you a full report about measurements and testing with records etc.

Varun

[DSJR]

I read somewhere that Len Gregory uses EsCo for his retips.....

In my over-tightening days, I bent a brand new Troika cantilever when fitting it. I sent it to EsCo and it came back "as new" with new cantilever telescoped in to the coil assembly exactly as manufactured. they claimed to be able to use the original diamond and re-mounted it (if not, it was identical to that supplied by Supex for this model).

There's a chap in Germany who seems to do a good job too, especially on well regarded B&O cartridges from the eighties. He can re-build the saphire cantilever/diamond of the MMC20CL to an *identical* standards to the excellent quality tip of the original - I suspect B&O bought the assemblies in as Rega do with their cartridges).

I have an OC30 with fully intact cantilever (same as the PTG one) but no diamond. I wonder if EsCo could fit a decent ML grade diamond to it without disturbing it (I know VDH can, as they did this to a Koetsu owned by Jimmy Hughes which was the best Koetsu I've ever heard until Jimmy later sent it to Koetsu to be turned into a "signature" model and they ruined it!!!).

[Mike]

I read somewhere that Len Gregory uses EsCo for his retips.....

I'm not the only one then! <sigh of relief>

[NRG]

ESco are very well qualified to re-tip. Their work seems to be first class from my recent experience. They freely admit that if the suspension of the cart has collapsed or is in some way defective they are unable repair it....an inspection is only £25. If they deem all to be OK then they will re-tip for £285....that Accuphase will have to go for a really low price IMHO to make it worthwhile.

My KB has just been re-tipped and AFAIK they took it apart and cleaned all the debris from around the motor coils, they are very thorough and provide a report of the work carried out.

The KB now sounds as it did when I first bought it, it's not lost any of its character as far as I can tell and seems to be performing flawlessly. I very happy with it and would recommend ESCo to anybody.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/other/stylus/Paratrace_ESC_2.jpg

[TKK]

Neal,

ESco kept the ruby cantilever of the Kb, so it's just a new stylus?

The bulge around the tip seems a little excessive, though it doesn't look like adhesive. Or is it?

[NRG]

Yes cantilever is the original, just the stylus replaced. The glue is a little excessive but not by much, here's the stylus prior to replacement:

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/other/stylus/KB_profile.jpg

[Dave Cawley]

Wow! Neal! how did you get those photos?

Dave

[Mike]

Wow! Neal! how did you get those photos?

Dave

Watchmakers 'secret weapons'! :eyebrows:

[NRG]

;) That's right Mike! Would you belive a watchmakers / Jewelers stereoscope and Fuji F11 point 'n' shoot camera! :eyebrows:

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/Watches/Vintage/Longines_restore/19AS/cleaning_inspection/DSCF3222.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/Watches/Vintage/Longines_restore/19AS/cleaning_inspection/DSCF3223.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l82/_NRG_/Watches/Vintage/Longines_restore/19AS/cleaning_inspection/DSCF3224.jpg

[TKK]

Neal

Great pictures. I agree, not by much. The old stylus doesn't appear worn in the pic. But then, what do I know?