Retipping Miyajima mono cartridge

Bob, thanks for the clarification. Much appreciated.

Dnath, Art Dudley, in Stereophile did a photographic comparison of the EMT and Ortofon conicals in concert with a column on the two cartridges.

I don't think that you seemed inflammatory at all. There is always room here for differing perspectives and aesthetics.

Very often, cartridge makers buy styli already mounted on cantilevers. Soundsmith shortens the existing cantilever and grafts their cantilever on. It may be possible to try the Soundsmith and still send the cartridge back to Miyajima if you are not pleased with the sound, however it would probably be best to have them confirm that before taking the plunge.

Although no one has responded to this thread, there are tons of folks that have had Soundsmith retip the conicals of their Denon 103s and I have never heard anything but praise.

One last thing to think about, Soundsmith uses the European styli, Geiger, Van Den Hul, etc. Andy Chong at Cartridge Clinic in Seattle retips with the Japanese line contact styli, Ogura, etc. So if you have developed a preference for one type of line contact over the other that may sway you as well. I certainly have a favorite.

Probably of no concern to the OP but a line contact stylus can damage records pressed on styrene. Many mono LPs and 45s from the 50s and 60s are styrene.
I would rather have an "all rounder" conical, personally.

I can't see why a conical profile would have any difference in life span versus other profiles. But they are any number of variables involved. Poor set-up, improper cleaning and care, dirty records, cheap stylus, etc. Any of these things will greatly reduce stylus life from the ideal.

My experience with stylus life, no matter the profile, is they last far longer than is commonly reported. Things do wear and change but the most important factor is has the stylus worn enough to cause permanent damage to the record?

Some people will tell you a stylus is shot at 1,000 hours or less. I routinely run my cartridges well beyond 1,000 hours with no damage to my vinyl. I keep my records and stylus clean but I am not fanatical on this point.

The best person to ask is the importer for Miyajima. A great guy, a wealth of knowledge concerning all things analog and he will give you the straight story. He is far more interested in a satisfied customer than selling a cartridge, or re-tipping, before it is required.

Andy Chong of Cartridge Clinic is rather a contraversial decision to take your cart to. Although many have said good things I know for a fact he doesn't often repair the carts himself but rather ships them to China to one of his repairers.
How do I know this, I sent my Clearaudio Insider because the cantilever snapped off and he said he could fix it when even Clearaudio didnt want to do it. So 3 weeks later and no cart I pressed him for some details of when it was going to be done. He was stalling and couldnt say exactly when so I did a suprise visit to the shop and demanded to see my cart, guess what... he couldn't because it was in China!!!! He didn't tell me until I wore him out asking where it was. Unbelieveable!!
So two weeks later I get it and install it on my table, the cart was totally unbalanced in volume and grainy sounding. Tries and tried slight changes but it was obvious the cart was just F$%^&*d. So I call him up and explain how it is, he says a lot of BS and offers me $100 off the $900 bill and to take go elsewhere if I don't like it!
Stay away from that shop!!!!