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Can’t remember when I first noticed the right channel was quiet when I used phono as my source, but it was some time before I rigorously traced the fault back to the cartridge, itself, and it was another age before I asked Ortofon about another re-build. Only this time, Ortofon told me they no longer support their “legacy” cartridges, such as my MC3000 II. This made my head spin, to think I would have to find a replacement for the heart of my system, likely including a new SUT, as well. Very depressing.  I started “shopping” for a new cartridge, and at the same I looked for someone who could and would restore my 18 year old (!) cartridge (again). I spoke with the folks at Soundsmith first, and they said they’d look at it, so I packed it up and shipped it to them, in New York. After a couple of weeks, and after a couple of inquiries from me, Soundsmith said it was trash, and they would dispose of it for me. I demurred and sent them money to ship it back to me. Then I called Steve Leong, VAS Audio (he will get his own thread, soon).  I talked a blue streak, and he listened and he also said he’d look at the cartridge, so I turned around and shipped it back to Steve, again in New York. It took less than a week for Steve to tell me there were two cuts in one coil’s wire, and the suspension was “melted”, and he would try to fix it, and less than a week after that, Steve sent me a sound video of my cartridge playing classical music, and it sounded great!>>

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Folks, I have no idea how it came to pass, but Steve also told me the wire in my cartridge is not copper but it is solid gold. According to Ortofon, it was originally spec’d to be super pure OFC OCC copper, and their specs for the 2013 rebuild called for all new, original spec internal parts in the original shell/body. ????? Oh, well. As far as performance, the newly-rebuilt cartridge tracks better than ever at the factory spec’d VTF (2.2 grams), and at the original cartridge’s VTA/height settings, based on my original, repeatable VTA calibration system settings. According to my “audio memory”, it sounds substantially like it did before the repairs, and output levels are the same. Digesting all this brought to mind the header for this post, “It’s Alive!”, because my cartridge appears to be a Franken-cartridge! Go freaking figure!>>

Paul S

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