GeoffRoberts Posted July 17, 2021 Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) It appears my Ortofon Cadenza Black may have reached the end last night. Sounded great most of the evening, then suddenly starts tracking poorly and sounding distorted. Stylus cleaned regularly with an Onzo. I’ve had this cart around 5 years, I’d be happy to be told otherwise, but it seems to be done. Question now is should I rebuild or replace? It looks like Ortofon will rebuild for about $2k, and local replacement cost around $3.5k. Is a rebuild as good as a brand new cart, or are there compromises? I’ve been very happy with the sound, and while I assume I may not do better for the rebuild price, that is also something I should consider. I have not been considering changing it, so I have to admit I an not up to date on current offerings. Arm is a Reed 2a on a Transrotor Zet 3. Edited July 17, 2021 by GeoffRoberts Typo
rossb Posted July 17, 2021 Posted July 17, 2021 As I understand it, the Ortofon re-builds are basically new cartridges. They keep the outer shell and the internals are completely replaced. If you like the cartridge - and it is a great cartridge - I would send it back to Ortofon for a re-build. Even if you wanted to try something else, the re-build is a pretty good deal and you could keep the Cadenza as a back up. I can't think of a new cartridge that would be anywhere near as good for $2k. I have just bought a rebuilt Jubilee from Ortofon and it looks and sounds like a brand new cartridge, so I can definitely recommend their re-built cartridges. 1 1
aussievintage Posted July 17, 2021 Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, GeoffRoberts said: It appears my Ortofon Cadenza Black may have reached the end last night. Sounded great most of the evening, then suddenly starts tracking poorly and sounding distorted. Stylus cleaned regularly with an Onzo. I’ve had this cart around 5 years, I’d be happy to be told otherwise, but it seems to be done. I would definitely not count it out yet, especially as you describe it going bad in one listening session. I never consider a stylus clean until I use a proper liquid solvent cleaner and brush. Zero dust and magic eraser are great between plays, but every so often I feel a stylus needs a good chemical clean. Get some of this Edited July 17, 2021 by aussievintage 3
GeoffRoberts Posted July 17, 2021 Author Posted July 17, 2021 That’s great, if a rebuild is essentially a new cart, that does seem like a good option! Ortofon had some disclaimer about the sound changing on their site, which had me wondering whether they could only rebuild to some extent. I’d be hoping a rebuilt cart would sound better than one nearing the end.
GeoffRoberts Posted July 17, 2021 Author Posted July 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, aussievintage said: I would definitely not count it out yet, especially as you describe it going bad in one listening session. I never consider a stylus clean until I use a proper liquid solvent cleaner and brush. Zero dust and magic eraser are great between plays, but every so often I feel a stylus needs a good chemical clean. I’ll give that a go first, I’ve never done a chemical clean. Nothing to lose if the cart is done, and I’d be very pleased if it just needed a good scrub.
EV Cali Posted July 18, 2021 Posted July 18, 2021 Always a good idea to have a look with a 60 x eye glass. A stylus that looks ok to the naked eye can actually have a lot of dirt on it. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/384033701978?hash=item596a31405a:g:ACcAAOSwcFlgUckf 4
GeoffRoberts Posted July 18, 2021 Author Posted July 18, 2021 5 hours ago, EV Cali said: Always a good idea to have a look with a 60 x eye glass. A stylus that looks ok to the naked eye can actually have a lot of dirt on it. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/384033701978?hash=item596a31405a:g:ACcAAOSwcFlgUckf That’d be handy to have, and inexpensive
cafe latte Posted July 20, 2021 Posted July 20, 2021 On 7/18/2021 at 8:31 AM, GeoffRoberts said: It appears my Ortofon Cadenza Black may have reached the end last night. Sounded great most of the evening, then suddenly starts tracking poorly and sounding distorted. Stylus cleaned regularly with an Onzo. I’ve had this cart around 5 years, I’d be happy to be told otherwise, but it seems to be done. Question now is should I rebuild or replace? It looks like Ortofon will rebuild for about $2k, and local replacement cost around $3.5k. Is a rebuild as good as a brand new cart, or are there compromises? I’ve been very happy with the sound, and while I assume I may not do better for the rebuild price, that is also something I should consider. I have not been considering changing it, so I have to admit I an not up to date on current offerings. Arm is a Reed 2a on a Transrotor Zet 3. A retip is 350 bucks, but that is not IMO what your problem is, I spend a lot of time behind a microscope and these gel cleaners the stylus ends up looking like a bag of spuds full of crud. Despite instructions clean with alcohol and a stylus brush and I am sure things will be normal again. Chris 2
GeoffRoberts Posted July 22, 2021 Author Posted July 22, 2021 On 7/20/2021 at 8:16 PM, cafe latte said: A retip is 350 bucks, but that is not IMO what your problem is, I spend a lot of time behind a microscope and these gel cleaners the stylus ends up looking like a bag of spuds full of crud. Despite instructions clean with alcohol and a stylus brush and I am sure things will be normal again. Chris That’s what I want to hear! I’ve ordered one of these, hopefully will sort it out. https://www.flux-hifi.de/en/products/flux-sonic/ 1
cafe latte Posted July 22, 2021 Posted July 22, 2021 7 minutes ago, GeoffRoberts said: That’s what I want to hear! I’ve ordered one of these, hopefully will sort it out. https://www.flux-hifi.de/en/products/flux-sonic/ Get a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and a stylus brush and a loupe this is all you need. Chris
aussievintage Posted July 22, 2021 Posted July 22, 2021 12 hours ago, GeoffRoberts said: That’s what I want to hear! I’ve ordered one of these, hopefully will sort it out. https://www.flux-hifi.de/en/products/flux-sonic/ I don't know. My experience using ultrasonic cleaners for drafting pens left me unimpressed. Just use a solvent cleaner liquid and brush. 1
GeoffRoberts Posted August 7, 2021 Author Posted August 7, 2021 Cartridge is perfect following a clean, many thanks to this thread! I used Lyra spt stylus cleaner, and now tracking perfectly and sounding great. Bass is also hugely improved, deep and tight, I guess the gunk was degrading things before there were obvious problems. Sounding wonderful, love a low cost simple fix. 4
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