They laughed until the DIY retips started to play

[Paladin]

I want to thank our helpful VE member Fantasia. His information, advice, and continued effort in finding alternative answers to keeping our crucial cartridges running are priceless. Broken doesn’t mean dead and Fantasia’s work is my foundation. And I want to thank every member here for having the intelligence to keep our hobby fresh where others can see and appreciate an “outdated” format. We don’t have all the answers yet but the variety of thoughts is what keeps us fresh and going forward with a format the consumer left behind.

Why do I offer you this alternative? It is interesting, fun, cost-effective, and can bring dusty cartridges back to life at costs that won’t break the bank. And if you don’t want to do it then send me all your dead cartridges. Okay?




For a third of a century I never got to hear Sumo II because there was no tip. It was a worthless curio.

Broken cartridges don’t have to sit. How would you like your broken cartridge retipped for $12? I went for the $20 deluxe job. You would have been thrilled to be with me as Sumo II fired up. It had all the adventures of a good book.

1977- a ham-fisted customer destroys the LOMC cartridge. It cost $500, $1,700 in today’s prices, so without a tip it is canned. I fish it out as a memento. 2009- nothing to lose and everything to gain, a fool stunt gets it, and a couple more, by DIY retipping. Two weeks later they continue to work. Moving-coil, unlike MM or MI carts, do not have easily replaced tips. With retips prices escalating and my wallet shrinking gives me the incentive to get creative and DIY it. Sumo is new, bold, and improved. It can be done to moving-magnet carts too.


Let’s create something out of nothing. No expensive retip is necessary and fixed in under an hour. The top picture shows my test-cantilever with the internal splint barely showing. The final cantilever is thinner and the splint is shaved down to approximate the distance the original point would sit. I do not recommend taking the body off this cartridge: the wires are very thin. A homemade stylus protector, green in color, is in the background.


Internal splint holds the new cantilever rigidly in place yet can be removed in a couple of minutes.


Enlargement of the graft. The tight-fit splint is the support and easy to find liquid acrylic keeps it locked in place.

Between and inside the tubes is a section from a cactus thorn. The fibrous leaf makes an ideal strong, lightweight, long-grain splint. A fingernail sanding-block shaves the thorn and cantilever for a snug fit. To bind the project together, a fine sable brush dabs a combination of carpenter’s glue blended with Future Acrylic Floor Polish. For more strength and protection, a couple of coats of Future are used to encase the splint. The bond can be released in a couple of minutes with ammonia and water. Don’t forget a good set of tweezers and a magnifier. I use a 4x watchmaker’s loupe.


WHY DID I GO TO THE TROUBLE?
Broken cartridges are wasted. Getting them running, especially in the case of LOMC carts like the Sumo, can be a challenge. Iin many cases the replacement tips are not around or no one will do it. Plenty of times the money is needed elsewhere.

Another reason for the Sumo cartridge rebirth is something I remembered from the technical magazine called International Audio Review (IAR), Issue No. 5, 1980. I give credit to IAR because they are non-profit, accept no advertising, and have great information.

Back then MC cartridges were a progressive trend instead of today’s niche acceptance. They tested many MC cartridges side by side and found interesting results. Many moving-coil pickups performed best with a load capacitance of around 3000pF (yes, three-thousand!) More interesting is the intermodulation distortion tests produced a surprising discovery that as the impedance of MC pickups was reduced toward zero ohms, the IM distortion dropped dramatically making far less phase cancellations resulting in much clearer music with distinct stereo imaging. But very low load impedance (such as 5 ohms) tended to short-circuit the cartridge's output voltage, giving very low output and poor S/N. I imagine it is like riding the brakes on a car- we move slowly, quietly, inefficiently, but we get a whole lot of control. If IAR is right then moving-coil cartridge with 15-ohm impedance and 1,000-ohm load should give much more performance then a moving magnet or moving-iron cartridge. Makes sense to me- mechanics AND the passive electrical circuit gives LOMC their low distortion, detail, stereo separation, and sweetness.

I suspect this would work for even moving magnet cartridges. From Popular Mechanics, Feb., 1982, pg. 144, “…the M75HE measured even better in the uppermost range then the more expensive M95HE…” The M75 has around 700-ohm and the newer M95HE has roughly 1500-ohms static resistance. But the article is open to interpretations; what is meant by “better?” Could it be smoother, higher, more stereo separation, or kinder to tips? We will never know.


From the late ‘70s, the only concrete information about the Sumo II. It isn’t even listed at the Cartridge Database.

So I am torn about what to do about Sumo. I test and the coils are intact but in what condition? Options? Get the retip for a cartridge that might not work then baby it so I won’t use it up. That seems an expensive gamble. I could take a hammer to it so I can finally know where I stand. I equally know where I stand if I let it sit broken. One more option is do it myself. First, I need practice before the big project.


Is the Sumo repair a fluke? It isn’t the first. The Micro-Acoustics 2002-E has new life with a $12 after-market tip. The tip is a bit heavy so I’ll put a lighter one on later.


Practice test #2 is a Bang & Olufsen SP12 retip using an after-market Shure M95ED cantilever. This is done because I want to get the splint length right and to see if the splint changes the sound. Happily, they sound alike. Which one is the clone?


The real thing. The Sumo tip comes from an Audio Technica 6006 P-mount cartridge. I go big bucks on the Sumo by spending $20 for a new tip because it is the closest I can find to the original Sumo specs. With removable tips, in the future it could have a Hyper-Elliptical or Line-Contact tip. Beats no tip at all, eh?



Low-output needs big amplification. Here are my two active options. Sumo has only has 0.1mV output, 2% of the output of a 5mV moving-magnet cart!

THE EUREKA MOMENT
The Sumo operation is flawless. Turntable is set up and double-checked. I use the MC switch on the receiver for simplicity. Cartridge is set up haphazardly because I just want to know if it works. Triple-check then make the drop. No singing…hmm. I wait forever and it does nothing. Dumb…I forget to push the MC switch on the receiver. Quietly there is sound coming from the speakers. Cynicism starts creeping in. Keep listening, hope…and think. Hmmm…dumb…damn…stupid…the volume is at the bottom- turn it up gently. At the 9 o’clock position a concert hall surrounds me. It sings and I sit there frozen! It’s a ton of music with great resolution. Instruments have pinpoint imaging. Who doubled the size of my room? I forgot what a LOMC could do. It makes me want to dance so I dance. No dull here! Happy is not a good enough description for this moment.


Now mounted on a lightweight one-piece magnesium headshell.

Again, two weeks later we are still going strong. I’ve dodged the MC expense. Saved a ton of money and got tons of music. You know California thorns make the best splints? More musical too. Now I love broken cartridges and my cactus too. Anyone have any broken Sumo cartridges lying around?

SUMO & OTHERS- SAMPLERS
Where does Sumo stand next to the popular? Is a high-cost MC cart worth the extra cash?

The differences are subtle. If your equipment is good, not necessarily expensive, then you’ll hear it.

Here are three samplers of popular cartridges, Sumo, Shure V15 Type III, and Shure M97xE. I have the advantage: each file is a severe compromise. Each is adjusted for equal volume, in mono, and converted to a compressed format, MP3, so quality is lost. The alternative is the unwelcome downloading 78mb of music! So they are candy samplers, not the whole box. Hearing the Sumo cartridge with its grand separation and pinpoint imaging of instruments will not happen.

The files are best heard in your stereo system. Try Sumo first, the V15, then the M97xE. Finally go back to the Sumo. At the risk of biasing you- the Sumo has uplift in the midrange, and sweeter highs. Is the little extra worth the big price? You can decide.

SUMO II:
http://www.box.net/shared/t19mjq6m25

SHURE V15 TYPE III:
http://www.box.net/shared/kuvrn6gar4

SHURE M97xE:
http://www.box.net/shared/m5l5576fd2



The Sumo is the side story. The main one is the story of my friend the cactus and how it can make music. But then the Sumo demonstrates the sound doesn’t get ‘rubbery’ with a stiff splint.

Anyone want to join the Retipper’s Club?


Have you hugged your cactus lately?
_________________
Will

[Blue Angel]

Hey, hey...Paladin

Good for you. Let me also be the first to congratulate you on your improvisations and skills. I agree absolutely. Why must these old carts lay in a box and silently rot away?

My little needle-making business started exactly the same way, except for the cactus thorns.

Go well and strength to your hand

blue angel

Update! So I listened. Agreed about the Sumo which sounds very sweet and clean. A micro-bit of more 'body' to the V15's sound but that's just pernickety.
_________________
"If you don't like my principles, I have others" - Groucho Marx

[DaveyW]

Great Stuff Paladin!

An inspiration.
Unfortuntately I've given away or thrown out a couple of good carts with damaged cantilevers
Never Again!

Once again

[Dave Cawley]

RESPECT!!

DAve
_________________
/ Technics SL-1200MKII / Jelco SA-250ST arm / Shelter 501 II cartridge / Neglex arm interconnect / A.N.T. Kora 3T MC phono stage / Marantz SC-7S2 preamp / 2 x MA-9S2 Marantz power amps / Focal Electra 1037Be loudspeakers /

[fscl]

Will asks:

[bauzace50]

Hello,

Yes! RESPECT like all get out! Congratulations! Great work. Great ingenuity!

Regards,
bauzace50
_________________
Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

[LPfan]

Hi Paladin,

Great work. This is a Godsend for hopeless vinyl addicts like me who are always on a very tight budget to feed the habit. I can think of several candidates that are in storage in my cartridge box.
BTW how do you ensure that the magnet at the end of the cantilever (in mm carts) is not disturbed?

This thread should be made into a sticky.

With Best Regards,

LPfan
_________________
Music is a universal language.

[1200y3]

I have cut cantilevers half way or two thirds and used a splint, with no magnet disturbance. BUT you should think ahead, devise a jig to handle or hold the stylus. Masking tape works to hold a tip, a fresh razor blade will cut must cantilevers, plastic tweezers work, the extension tube from an aerosol spray container help to hold and line up styli, and a tiny screw (brass) in the end of an aerosol extension tub can build a twist tool to line up the stylus tip so it is perfectly straight (or at your chosen grab angle). A magnifier and microscope helps. You may drop a few tips too, so think about the risks.

I would not attempt an expensive one for my first few.

For $100 in Phanstheil styli, you can save $5000 (average mid high end cartridge) to $100,000. Or if you have ten Shures lying around, for $100 you can make them all work, or make them work better. If I broke a VDH I would have no choice but to "smarten up". At least it is better than crating my LP's and hauling them away. Otherwise I would. You can break needles without worry. The softer diamond belief can be practiced as well (hard diomonds are hard on grooves).

Unless I have a "sweet package" that consists of 100 brand new records, and a new line contact cartridge, I have no reason to spend my money where it has already been spent. New records may need line contacts as a result of digital recording, but vintage records need a lot more to get a good sound, and that involves trying multiple pickups, and experience. With the millions of broken styli out there, you've got a cheap hobby forever.

Consider the ratios and statistics over the last 60 years: Audiophile sound was primarily a DIY hobby, and many stockists should not have sold turntables because of the requirements for optimization: We can build our own speakers, Dynakits, Heathkits, turntables, and nearly every other high end component.

It is a bit difficult with thinner cantilevers and they are soft, use caution.

[fantasia]

Well a thank you to fellow VE member Paladin,

who is always generous; i don't have his skill!!

He encouraged my effort at resurrecting my Grace F-8 where there is no possibility of any "NEW" replacement stylii being made by anyone.(JICO just weren't interested!!!!)

Paladin sent me a Sample of Parafilm-M which makes it possible to fit a narrower stylus shank into a cartridge body and have it stay put.

I was rewarded with a Grace F-8 now sporting a Generic Shure V15-3-HE stylus assembly. Which sounds rather good better than anything i own; The moving coil breed with their fixed coils aren't as easy.

Paladin has provided a solution, a far more radical one, but a good one for MC
and MM MI carts where my simple solution isn't possible.

we should make this a sticky as much useful and useable info can be amassed here

Fantasia

[1200y3]

The files Paladin supplies in the post are great demostrations. The SUMO is one "proud" cartridge. The Shures lost the mid brilliance due to the suspension wire preventing isolation, but it prevents brightness at high levels. I use Phanstiehl's to hear a decoupled stylus, and for tips. There M92E and M95ED make good styli for re-tipping. Some Finetones have a wide enough diameter to slip over the end of a cantilever (N75EC).

What kind of turntable and arm is used?

[pivot]

Well, I am gobsmacked - no other word for it. That DIY retipping could achive the results you get is beyond my expectations.

Concerns remain for me about the quality of diamond in generic replacement stylus, alignment of eliptical, or more exotic, shapes, but one can't argue with the results documented in your clips.
_________________
Kevin R-M

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,
but not their own facts. - Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan

[Thomas_A]

Impressive. One big difference is that the Sumo is quite lifted in the mid-highs vs. the V15III.

The recording is not really HQ, wonder how a comparison would be with a really good recording?

[Paladin]

Glad to help. Take those old cartridges and put them back to work. Anyone have exotic broken ones? I don’t want to be the sole member of the Retipper’s Club. No charge. Yes, even dead they have life. Even James Bongiorno doubted I could bring Sumo back. Remember him? The maker of Sumo and also associated with Marantz, Dynaco, Ampzilla, GAS, SAE, and Spread Spectrum Technologies. He told me: “Lots of luck on having that retipped. Usually, the cantilever is ruined during the process. MCs are NOT the same as MMs.”

Like 1200y3 & Fantasia figured out, watch out for flying cantilevers. Cutting with wire cutters will inject way too much energy and they’ll go into orbit. So I use Parafilm-M gently wrapped around the tip to be grafted then push the film on a table so everything is secure. Fantasia knows how useful the stuff is. Cut and saw with a new Xacto blade. Fine-tune the cut with a nail file…the sandpaper one.

This is a great test to find out who really has good eyes and steady hands. I do the tips after a pot of coffee!

The Sumo has the edge on the V15 III but its close, very close in sound. I could, and have, live a lifetime with just the V15. They are both refined and detail, not excessive or biased in sound, and if a budget were important then the V15 III is the bargain that any system can use. But Sumo gets ahead on the focus and separation but it was a lot of dough.

The downloads are compromises. You’ll have to rebuild your own and hear how well this dodge works.

Lately, I’ve been scouring Ebay for broken cartridges. LOL…I’m always looking for a bargain.

Turntable= JVC QL-Y7, stock.
_________________
Will

[fscl]

Will writes:

[Paladin]

I’d be interested to see if Ebay sees a sudden spike of broken cartridges being sold and music lovers start looking for the strongest cacti for houseplants! Time to dig deeper in my box. Might be some more dead ones in there. Unlike DaveyW (poor DaveyW), I didn’t throw the carts away.

Don’t worry, cartridge stuffing is easy. My cartridges are the size of breadboxes and the cantilevers are PVC pipes with a pencil tips.

I'm still the only member of the Retipper's Club.
_________________
Will