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Thread: Expert stylus - any good?

  1. #21
    Join Date: Jan 2009

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    I have had a couple of Paratrace tips fitted and my experience, supported by that of friends who have also had Paratraace tips fitted, is they are not as long lived as some alternatives. I also feel they somewhat exaggerate record imperfections and tracking noise.
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  2. #22
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Norwich

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    I'm Hugo.

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    If I recall correctly, when my ESCo re-tipped KontrapunktB had a badly worn tip after what I considered to be a relatively short period of use, Mr Hodgson of ESCo told me that a life of 600 hours was normal for the Paratrace. So, I believe what Mark wrote above is correct.

  3. #23
    Join Date: May 2008

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    ESCo used to do different diamond tips I think and their setting up was to get the best performance rather than maybe the nicest sound. Re-tipped Troika's sounded far better than original slightly 'foggy' examples once run in, although we knew little else in those days and somewhere, I think I have a 'sound-bite' that YNWOAN sent me years ago of his rebuilt Troika in ARO. Come to think of it, maybe Goldring did the rebuild - and this is another good re-tipper with years of experience.

    Apologies for memory failure above. If YNWOAN sees this, maybe he can jog my memory here.

    As for old Koetsu's, even Koetsu got it wrong back in the day! Jimmy H once had an Onyx which came to him minus the diamond chip I seem to recall (these diamond stylus 'chips' came off all too easily, being butt mounted to the cantilever). I seem to recall VDH did the re-tip and the sound of this thing in his Breuer arm (Roksan deck?) was amazingly good. he used it for a while and then sent it to japan to be turned into a 'Signature' or whatever it was. It came back sounding awful - dull, thick and coloured, perhaps in the over-egged 'analogue' way of top-line Koetsu's back then and loved by haters of all things digital - Jimmy's system at that point was superb on CD and his best sounds from vinyl were firectly comparable - this was before he pointed his speakers away from the listener... Long time ago now...
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  4. #24
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    Goldring did the re-tip of my ‘black’ Troika and I went for quite a radical rebuild that included a solid ruby cantilever and the top of the range Gyger stylus. This moved the Troika even further from the ‘foggy’ sound DSJR describes and makes for a very detailed but powerful sounding cartridge. However, I don’t think I did any needle-drips from it and all the vast majority of recordings I did from my deck, back when pfm allowed them, was with my Paratrace tipped Troika.

    ———

    Harking back to an earlier post, it’s certainly not true that ‘a diamond is a diamond’ and some are definately better than others. It’s posdible that this divergence is down to grain orientation, polish or profile. It is also possible the outright quality of the stock varies too.
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  5. #25
    Join Date: May 2008

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    Thanks for clarifying. It would have been years ago with the Paratrace tipped Troika - I only got to know of your 'Black' Troika in recent times.
    Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
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  6. #26
    Join Date: Jan 2009

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    I think, if we are talking years ago (and I think you are right, we probably are, if it was when needle-drops were allowed on pfm) then it will definately be one of my ESCo tipped Troikas. As you say, my Goldring rebuilt black Troika is much more recent (I’ve still never encountered another one like it - quite unique I believe).
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  7. #27
    Join Date: Dec 2017

    Location: Manchester

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    I'm John.

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    My Shure V15 is with ESCo at the moment having a paratrace re-tip.

    I was also told about 600-700 hours is normal for a these tips.

    As for outsourcing to China, I would be very surprised if there was any truth in this. Mr Hodgson is very hands on and still trains his own engineers.

    Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

  8. #28
    Join Date: Jan 2018

    Location: Bend, OR

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    I'm Mike.

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    I've just had my Ortofon Cadenza Black MC phonograph cartridge retipped by Expert Stylus. On the original cartridge, I had 800 hours of use, clocked with a hand counter, all played on VPI or ultrasonic cleaned records. At about 700 hours I noticed distortion, sibilance, and others who knew my system did too. Based on a recommendation from James Henriot of Whest Audio, I inquired with Expert Stylus and a few days later I sent my cartridge from the US to them in the UK.

    Once they examined my cartridge, they issued a written report, stating that the tip was "badly worn". They recommended a retipping with their Paratrace design, among a few other options. I went with their Paratrace option. This required shortening the cantilever by 0.5mm, which served also to reduce its mass.

    Ms. Julia Thompson handled most communication. She was timely, informative, and keep me up to date. It took, in my case, about 8 weeks, more of less to get the cartridge back. And some of that delay was because I asked lots of questions on the front end. Also, Mr. Wyndham Hodgson is a busy man, and I sent my cartridge to him prior to Easter when he had scheduled some leave.

    I got the cartridge back a few days ago and played straight away—once I got the alignment dialed in—a few of my favorite records. I was blown away by the sound. Okay, I admit, I don't have great of auditory memory from two months ago. Straight up, I don't. I had installed during the retip, an Ortofon 2M Black, which is honestly quite good. What stood out most to me on the retipped Cadenza Black was the detail as in decay of notes, and in the soundstage as in soundspace of the room. Just wonderful. I am really pleased with every aspect of service from Expert Stylus and I recommend them without reservation.

    If my experience is normal, I give Expert Stylus retipping services an A+, a 10 on a 1-10 scale. Ms. Thompson and Mr. Hodgson were polite, accommodating of my questions, and most professional.

    A job very well done.
    Last edited by BendBound; 11-06-2019 at 01:20.

  9. #29
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: West London

    Posts: 153
    I'm Steve.

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    I have a Koetsu Black which I bought a few years ago second hand with an ESCO retip. It was so so and seemed to let in more surface noise than my Benz Micro Wood SL. The latter lost the tip so I bought an Ortofon Jubilee refurb direct from Ortofon which is great.

    I am now using an XTC power instead of valves and swapped my Noteworthy step up for a Rothwell that I have also had for a few years but thought so so as well. The Rothwell lacked bass with the valve power.

    With the change of amp the Rothwell and Koetsu are now back in the system and sound sublime. Surface noise is none existent and resolution and bass staggering. If you had asked me a year ago I would have said both components are mediocre now it is the opposite. The point is consider the ancillaries before you criticise the cartridge. No complaints about ESCO.
    Thorens TD550, Ortofon 12", Ortofon Jubilee or Koetsu Black; Rothwell MCL SUT, VTL 2.5 pre, XTC POW 1 power; Naim CD5x; KEF Reference 3.2's; Van den Hul interconnects and speaker cables.

  10. #30
    Join Date: Nov 2016

    Location: UK London

    Posts: 236
    I'm Chris.

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    Quote Originally Posted by oldius View Post
    They're very good though their 'traditional' communication methods can be frustrating! One step above carrier pigeon!
    Yea they rang me and we chatted for ages about different cartridge/stylus when I sent them a cartridge to be examined for wear etc
    Turntable : Project 2 Xperience Tone Arm & Cartridge : Project 9c Ortofon 2M Blue Phono Stage : Project Phono Box SE II Digital Source :Primare CD21 Integrated Amp : Primare I30 Speakers : ProAc 110 Headphones : Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro

    Revox A77 MK IV 2 track 15 & 7 1/2 IPS
    TEAC A-3300SX 4 track 7 1/2 & 3 3/4 IPS
    Akai 4000DS MkII

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