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MA 2002e Stylus replacement

KentTeffeteller had his 2002e retipped at Expert Stylus for $129, a whole lot cheaper than Soundsmith. But only you can decide if it's worth it and I can see how not having heard the cartridge would make the decision that much harder. Is the stylus in too poor a condition to listen or are you being careful?

As far as Micro Acoustics cartridge longevity issues, there are none and I speak as a user of more than one MA cartridge going back to the 80's. Do a Google search if it concerns you, betcha won't find any.

Dave
 
KrisM said:
The things is, it came on a used table and I haven't really listened to it much. It was a poor match for the table it was on. So I can't really say that I like it much, or not.
As for the re-tip, Soundsmith(as an example) prices a re-tip, that keeps the original cantilever, at about $350-$450. I don't see myself ever gambling on this cart that much. But I am curious about the $150 or so options, and how they would stack up against carts in that price-range. If it is a cart with longevity issues, then that throws another wrinkle into it.

I know I'm digging up somebody's thread, but they haven't been around since it was started, and I'm still curious about what Tucker99 came up with.
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As far as i know Soundsmith retips begin at 150 and move up to the top of the line. line contact tip and ruby cantilever for 350. I don't know where you got that 450 price at unless there raising there prices.....
 
I don't know about the MA2002e but I have a MA282e, sounds alright but I haven't really examined it thoroughly yet.
 
I have no interest in raining on someone's parade, just relating what I've seen and heard of them. I used them and liked them back 'in the day', still have one somehow minus the stylus. I've seen here some comments about age-defective M-A carcasses and talked to someone with a couple electrically defective examples. I'm suggesting caution, that's all.
 
Caution is good, especially when looking at spending $130 and maybe more to put an old classic back into service. For anyone that doesn't know, Micro Acoustics cartridges are unique because of their electret transducer rather than the traditional magnet and coils of wire construction. Unfortunately with the supply of NOS stylus virtually gone and when found astronomically priced, retipping is the only real option to keep these guys going.

Dave
 
ChairSpud said:
KentTeffeteller had his 2002e retipped at Expert Stylus for $129, a whole lot cheaper than Soundsmith. But only you can decide if it's worth it and I can see how not having heard the cartridge would make the decision that much harder. Is the stylus in too poor a condition to listen or are you being careful?
Dave
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I just haven't had the time to put it on a compatible table. It came on a Technics SL-Q3, and I thought it sounded OK, but it wasn't tracking right. It wasn't a good match. I think the heaviest I could track it was about .70g. I'm running that table in my living room right now. I guess I could try it with a heavier headshell. The other table I am using is an AR, and I'd don't really want to mess with the headshell. I'll be trying out the MA on another table when I get some time.

Stanton681EEES said:
As far as i know Soundsmith retips begin at 150 and move up to the top of the line. line contact tip and ruby cantilever for 350. I don't know where you got that 450 price at unless there raising there prices.....
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The $350-$450 price came from Soundsmith's website. It was "typical" price for keeping the cantilever, and just changing the diamond.

Pio1980 said:
I have no interest in raining on someone's parade, just relating what I've seen and heard of them. I used them and liked them back 'in the day', still have one somehow minus the stylus. I've seen here some comments about age-defective M-A carcasses and talked to someone with a couple electrically defective examples. I'm suggesting caution, that's all.
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Thanks for your thoughts, Pio. I don't want to put money into a cart that won't last, but I don't want to give up on a decent one either.
My interest in this cart kinda comes from that older thread about decent vintage carts that MrPig started a while back. I'm getting the feeling that this cart is right in that place where it might be worth it(and I need to figure that out, for me) or might not be worth it. It's not in my budget right now, but something that I'm considering for the future.

Thanks again.
 
If you retip the cant and the cart dies, I think selling the refurbed stylus (if the stylus suspension is good) is do-able. There are plenty of these carts looking for stylii.
 
Kris M you were rite I thought I'd post this for clarification purposes and as to the exact type of retip:
"retipping only" with our Nude Contact Line styli, or our Optimized Contour Nude Contact Line design. "Retipping Only" costs range from $350 to $450.
 
Well, I can rule out just a re-tip. I mounted it to a heavier headshell yesterday, and the results weren't good. I had to set the tracking force at about .75g. If I went much higher the cantilever collapsed. At the lower VTF it didn't track very well.
I guess I'm back to putting it aside for future considerations.
 
Based on your results it needs a suspension refurb, not a new diamond. Have the same problem with one I purchased a while back. Another $25 down the drain. :thmbsp:
 
Nailer said:
Based on your results it needs a suspension refurb, not a new diamond. Have the same problem with one I purchased a while back. Another $25 down the drain. :thmbsp:
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Are you saying that the suspension can be refurbed for $25?
 
If it can't handle 2g appx, something is definitely wrong. Sounds like internal cart suspension failure. Oh well---. Consider then selling the stylus for refurb as-is.
 
The suspension certainly shouldn't collapse at .75g, you did rebalance the tonearm according to Technics instructions after mounting on the heavier headshell?

Dave
 
I did re-balance the arm before dialing in VTF. I didn't use my scale to check it, but I assume the Technics dial is accurate enough.

So the problem is in the cart? I had the same problem with my Shure V15II. I put a new Jico on it and all is well. Is it possible that changing out the stylus(hard to find, I know) or getting it re-done would fix it?

Thanks again!
 
The Technics dial should be accurate enough so if you followed their setup directions it sounds to me as has already been suggested the stylus suspension is shot. I was hoping you may have applied too much tracking force (causing the cantilever to collapse) but that doesn't seem to be the case. I don't know if Soundsmith or anyone else can repair MA suspensions but you could always ask.

Dave
 
The stylus suspension IIRC is an axial tie-wire type. If it's broken the stylus would detatch from the retention 'knob'. Pic may help.
If so, the fault is the internal carcass component failure cited earlier.
 
I'm not sure if a picture would help. It looks fine. But when VTF gets to about 1g, it collapses.
To be honest I know little about carts, so I don't get how the inside of it could be causing the problem. I'm not saying this to be disagreeable or anything. Like I said, I just don't have the knowledge. This cart might be a good one to learn with, though. With the clear body you can see the insides, without hacking it apart. I'm always happy to learn.:yes:

Thanks again.
 
Kris have you checked to make sure the stylus is fully and correctly snapped onto the cartridge body, if not it may cause the condition you describe?

Actually the suspension on the 2002e has no tie wire, the end of the cantilever sets in a suspension block called a "resolver" that rests against the two electrets and only the electrets are fixed inside the cartridge body this design results in a unique lossless coupling giving the cartridge its superb transient ability.

Dave
 
ChairSpud said:
Kris have you checked to make sure the stylus is fully and correctly snapped onto the cartridge body, if not it may cause the condition you describe?

Actually the suspension on the 2002e has no tie wire, the end of the cantilever sets in a suspension block called a "resolver" that rests against the two electrets and only the electrets are fixed inside the cartridge body this design results in a unique lossless coupling giving the cartridge its superb transient ability.

Dave
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It seemed like it was snapped in. I did take the stylus off to check out how it was sitting. I haven't tried out again yet, but I will.
 
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