My Needle Store USA Amazon seller

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N8Nagel

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...is actually Normarh Canada.

I specifically ordered two EVG PM3136DE for the pair of M91EDs that I got with my most recent TT acquisition. Price seemed too good to be true ($11.91 and free shipping) and it was. I got two Normarh "made in Colombia" 244DE.

Now I've heard that Normarh styli are not universally bad, but waiting a week and a half for not what I ordered annoys me. So little money though it's not worth sending them back, and having two identical carts/styli will be useful for A/Bing other gear, but I felt like I was going cheap buying EVG in the first place, the only reason I did was I got such a good result with EVG on my V15 Type II which by all accounts is very very similar to the pair of M91EDs I have in need of new styli.

So I guess the moral of the story is, don't be like me and just go with whoever Amazon suggests, research the seller or better yet just save up until you can buy from LP Gear or someone like that. I got lucky with the EVG for my V15; I couldn't find one anywhere and ordered from "Electronic Supply Corp." very odd storefront but only place I could find the EVG version of the VN15E at a reasonable price and that worked out really well.

I have not yet mounted either of the Normarh styli as it's turning out to be one of those weeks at work and I just walked in about half an hour ago... just figured I'd post up and let you all know.
 
Wish I'd seen this sooner. I just got the same bait and switch from from Amazon seller My Needle Store.

This is what I ordered (exact item description from their Amazon listing):

Pfanstiehl Replacement Diamond Stylus Needle for Shure N-74E, N-75E, N-75ED; 4760-DE

  • Used in Shure M-71, M-74, M-75, M-81 cartridge
  • High quality Pfanstiehl needle manufactured in Switzerland
  • Tip material: Polished elliptical diamond; Tip radius .0003 x .0007
  • Tracking force: 2 grams
  • Speeds: 16, 33 & 45 RPM
What I received was a Normarh 91ED (a brand I'd never even heard of until I did a search for it in this forum) that is made in Columbia. So, wrong brand, wrong country of manufacture.

That is flat out blatant bait and switch, false advertising. I contacted them through Amazon to request a replacement. At this point, I'd just as soon have a refund and purchase a replacement stylus from a reputable seller who doesn't play these kinds of games. What a ridiculous business practice for such an inexpensive item. It was an $11.37 purchase, including shipping, The shipping cost them $5.70 and now they will have to send me another at an additional cost of $5.70. Do they just assume buyers will accept whatever crap they choose to send them?

Well, they can call themselves "My Needle Store" but they certainly won't be my needle store ever again.
 
I dunno, Amazon refuses to publish my reviews and has never responded to any of my reports of "not as advertised". So that's why I posted here.
 
Thanks for the heads-up... I was just about to order one of their alignment protractors. Not any more...
 
I've found that if you complain directly to Amazon about a seller, you get pretty prompt action. Sellers hate losing an Amazon account.

I did, immediately.

I dunno, Amazon refuses to publish my reviews and has never responded to any of my reports of "not as advertised". So that's why I posted here.

Yeah, I'm surprised Amazon lets this go on. - especially for a habitual offender like My Needle Store.

Thanks for posting your experience. I was going to start my own thread about their bait and switch tactics, but yours was one of the first hits when I did a forum search on Normarh.
 
Here's what I ordered (this is a photo of the packing slip that accompanied my order from My Needle Store):

Pfanstiehl_4760_DE.jpg


This is what I got:

Normarh_91_DE_1.jpg


Normarh_91_DE_2.jpg


They knew they were sending me the wrong item and sent it any way without any explanation. I think they just hope most people won't bother to complain about an $11 item. Well, for me, it's the principle, not the amount of money involved. When I order something, I expect to get what I ordered. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. If this was an isolated incident, I would given them the benefit of the doubt. It's not, so I won't.
 
Also recently had an issue with them ... sent me a .7mil stylus for an old timer Astatic cartridge when I ordered a 3mil ...

In their favor, they got back right away, said they didn't have the 3mil in stock, refunded the purchase price, AND pointed me to another dealer that had it. All in all, not all that unhappy with the transaction once the dust settled.
 
Also recently had an issue with them ... sent me a .7mil stylus for an old timer Astatic cartridge when I ordered a 3mil ...

In their favor, they got back right away, said they didn't have the 3mil in stock, refunded the purchase price, AND pointed me to another dealer that had it. All in all, not all that unhappy with the transaction once the dust settled.

In addition to the bait and switch, that's part of my problem - I have NO idea what I actually received. The specs for the Pfanstiehl I ordered clearly state:
  • Tip material: Polished elliptical diamond; Tip radius .0003 x .0007
The Normarh I received came with zero specs and zero documentation. It could be a conical, an elliptical, a ???? Who knows? Not me? It's like they assume if it fits, that's all most people care about.
 
When I saw the package in the mailbox, I was excited to install my new stylus and give it a listen, but after reading posts like this:

The Normarh needles sold here (Peru) are explicitely made in Colombia, not Canada. (Not "colUmbia" either). And they are the worst thing you can fit in your cartridge...

I thought that Normarh was a Colombia-specific brand!

Absolutely true!

I'm reluctant to let it anywhere near my albums.
 
I see My Needle Store is still up to their bait and switch antics on Amazon!
Back in mid 2014 I ordered Sumiko HL-29 Headshell Leads. What I received were no-name leads that did not even visually resemble Sumiko HL-29s. When contacted, MNS tried to hold my refund as hostage in exchange for positive feedback. :rant:
My first and last time dealing with that seller!
 
Here's what I ordered (this is a photo of the packing slip that accompanied my order from My Needle Store):

Pfanstiehl_4760_DE.jpg


This is what I got:

Normarh_91_DE_1.jpg


Normarh_91_DE_2.jpg


They knew they were sending me the wrong item and sent it any way without any explanation. I think they just hope most people won't bother to complain about an $11 item. Well, for me, it's the principle, not the amount of money involved. When I order something, I expect to get what I ordered. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. If this was an isolated incident, I would given them the benefit of the doubt. It's not, so I won't.

all may not be lost, the photo of the stylus itself suggests it has a soldered in tie wire. the cantilever doesn't look as fat as some of the 14-18 dollah replacements out there. You might have a decent stylus. look inside the brass tube from the back and see if there is a tie wire, and if the magnet is square, or round.
 
I received this email from My Needle Store this morning:

"I'm sorry for our error, please keep that one as a back up, and we will send you the Pfanstiehl later today.
Thank you for your patience"

Since I get to keep the Normarh stylus, I went ahead and mounted it on my Shure 2215 cartridge and compared it to the 38-year old original Shure 2225 stylus. The Normarh is MUCH brighter, too bright in fact. Where the original stylus, after all these years, is very lacking in high frequencies, the Normarh produces very bright, but harsh sounding highs (lots of "tizz"). The bass is full and the mids aren't bad (slight edge to the original 2225), separation and imaging are comparable to the original Shure stylus, but the highs are just too harsh for my ears (could also be a function of the rest of my system).

Since neither of these are satisfactory, to me, I also did a comparison to my Signet TK10ML. Well, as you would expect, no comparison. The Signet is a much more expensive cartridge with a much better stylus. It trounced the other two. It had the highs the original 2225 lacked, but without a hint of harshness or "tizz" with outstanding imaging and separation. The Signet has a seductive sound that has gotten me excited again about vinyl again after all these years.

That said, the Normarh does appear to have quality construction. Yes, it has a soldered tie wire, and I need to get a better look with a magnifying glass to see if it has the square or round magnet. It appears to be square to my unaided eye, but I'm not 100% positive.

In the end, it's the sound that matters, and I found it too harsh at the higher end for my taste.

I also received a NOS genuine Shure Ne95ED for my Shure/Realistic R47XT cartridge yesterday. I'll get that cart and stylus mounted up today or tomorrow and see how it sounds. I'm still fairly new to experimenting with different stylii/cartridge/turntable combinations and trying to find what works for me. So far, the Signet MK10ML on the Realistic Lab 440 sounds the best to me, and it's not really close, but that's not a fair fight. I'm looking forward to hearing the Ne95ED/R47XT as I've read good things about that combination.
 
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Not to forget ... some say there IS some break in time required on any new stylus as the cantilever loosens up ... some more than others.

... and some say that some who say actually know what they're talking about ... or so I'm told. <G>
 
Not to forget ... some say there IS some break in time required on any new stylus as the cantilever loosens up ... some more than others.

... and some say that some who say actually know what they're talking about ... or so I'm told. <G>

I thought of that. Seems reasonable. I'll give the Normarh some more listening time while I wait for the "genuine" Pfanstiehl to arrive. Other than the highs, it's not that bad. It's also my first new stylus (the Shure Ne95ED will be my second). It will be interesting to see how the Shure sounds right out of the box.
 
Keep in mind as well, I'm one of the some who some say some should never listen to ... but then again, I suppose that depends on which some you're listening to some of the time ... ;-}
 
Oops, forgot to mention the tracking force. On the side of the box for the Normarh 91DE stylus is says: "FUERZA DE BRAZO 2.0 a 4.0 GR." So, I set the tracking force to 2.0g. The original Shure 2225 at 1.75g and the Signet MK10ML at 1.0g both track better than the Normarh at 2.0g. I have not tried to go any higher with the Normarh.
 
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