From what i gather you can buy direct from Japan for those made there and the price is not much different than the retailer here pays. You don’t get a warranty from the company by doing so, since they are gray goods, but I know people who save a lot of money doing this with high end cartridges.
I hate the fact that the big league cartridges are often $10k plus.
One theory- I certainly haven’t been able to prove it--is that if you buy a very expensive arm, you can get away with a lesser cartridge--e.g. that SAT? which retails for 32k dollars? Hell, that’s only the cost of two cartridges and a ’good’ arm.
There is a mystique to these things- built by hand by ancient Japanese, miniature winding techniques, exotic wood and stone bodies, etc.
I like what the Airtights sound like on my system, so I’m on my second one- the Supreme- no doubt when that goes, I’ll ramp up a step.
Never tried to have one ’retipped’ but may do so at some point- then again, when there’s something "better," why go backwards?
There’s a lot to vintage that I like but vintage cartridges make me wary.
One thing I’m interested in doing, when I finish my vintage set up and install an SME 3012r, is trying a whole range of less expensive cartridges- from the SPU to the wooden Grado, etc.
PS: the really galling thing is that they are degrading consumables that have to be replaced. Tubes are the same, and sometimes expensive, but generally, cheaper even for some of the better NOS ones. A piece of gear, like the turntable or tonearm, amp, etc. can last a lifetime. Speakers, maybe not so long, but there are refurbishment possibilities for those, as well as vintage amps.
