Getting a Koetsu Onyx cartridge rebuilt - help

I have just received my two Onyxes and a Rosewood from Garrot Brothers in Australia where thay have been retipped and Onyx Sapphire received a new cantilever as well. Prices range from about $280 for a simple retip and up. I can tell you they sound great, especially the Sapphire, which is spectacular. However, for this price don't expect Koetsu factory job, which basically is a replacement service not a rebuild/retip. Garrots use their own styluses which come extremely close to Koetsus of different vintages. They GLUE their tips in rather than PRESS them in like original Koetsu. If money is consideration I recommend them. If you can spend more I'm sure there are others out there. Expert Stylus Co in England has similar prices and good reviews but I don't know anything about their methods. Know that they use black and white sapphire rather than clear like original Koetsu or Garrots. I have heard that Van DenHul and Benz retipped Koetsus don't sound like Koetsus anymore but I seriously doubt that. Stylus shape will affect amount of detail, tracking, surface noise and frequency response to some degree but it's the generator that's responsible for 90% of the sound. Mine sound very Koetsu-like. Pls let me know results of your repair, especially the Koetsu S.E. Asia - they sound interesting.

I have just installed a Roksan Shiraz that was rebuilt by Expert Stylus Co. The sound is fabulous. Very high quality work at reasonable prices. Highy recommended.

If you can get a factory retip through an Asian dealer, thats the best way to go. It will be less than half of the retip list. My company has offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul so I know about this. My friend in the Tokyo office left so your best bet is a dealer in Singapore, because they speak English there. There is also a dealer in Seoul, he has a website and speaks pretty good English. I was also able to get information through our Tokyo office, in particular that Sugano says NOT to use an electric cartridge demagnetizer on their cartridges. They don't need them because of the purity of the metal and demagnetizing lowers the life of the cartridge.

Thanks again everyone. Got side-tracked from pursuing this for awhile.

I've written to Axxis Distribution asking for an estimate on what is likely to be a significant rebuild.

Got mine from Sugano-san himself when I lived in Tokyo (1976-80). Quite a gentleman who has sadly passed. If I can handle the cost I'd rather have it done by Koetsu Japan. If not I'll probably mount this classic for display in a place of honor!

Paid around $500 for it back then (exchange rate was over 300 back then), a far cry from he $7500 list for its current equivalent.

Doug

I can highly recommend Expert Stylus in England, their work on various cartridges of mine has been fantastic and of a very high standard.

I just sent them 2 Koetsu Roswood signatures one of which is a long body built by Sugano-San so looking forward to these babies. I have heard good things about Soundsmith in the USA.