Not surprising, but disappointing. I see all manner of cartridges in the alignment service I perform, and although one would expect more expensive ones to be built more carefully, which they often are, there is no assurance. A while ago I encountered an EMT cartridge which the manufacturer eventually admitted had a defective stylus, and to their credit they took care of the problem, although it took months to do. More recently I encountered a cartridge costing a few thousand dollars with 6dB of channel imbalance, finally described as a 'manufacturing error' (why didn't they catch it?) and another sent after being examined by the head of the company, albeit nearly two months later.
Cartridge manufacturers must inspect every cartridge they ship, but it's also incumbent upon the dealer to install and check each one sold in the customer's system as a crucial part of earning his commission, and customers should expect such service at no additional charge.
Cartridge manufacturers must inspect every cartridge they ship, but it's also incumbent upon the dealer to install and check each one sold in the customer's system as a crucial part of earning his commission, and customers should expect such service at no additional charge.
