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Should I return this brand new cartridge?

dodog

dodog

Addicted Member
I didn't want to threadcap jkilla's thread (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=511303&page=2) although it was quite timely as my AT OC9ML/II just arrived today.

So, a brand new cart but... I think there's a problem. I believe the cantilever is skewed and not straight. Well, I don't believe it is. It is. The pics are pretty self-explanatory:

frontrn.jpg

topxx.jpg


It's a bit hard to photograph the stylus with a camera (it is REALLY tiny). The front view shows a bit of blur from the low-light ISO I had used but the top-down view represents it rather well. This isn't straight and I can't imagine that that's a good thing.

I'm pretty bummed but already know the answer... should I return this for a different one? Does anyone have experience with LPGear's customer service?
 
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exchange for a new one

Any company can have a few qc blems..others have not had this issue..enjoy
 
In the real world, I don't think it'll make an audible difference...but, OTOH, I'd be upset seeing that on a brand new cart. I'd look into returning it for another.

At that price, the cantilever should be straight. Heck, on a $60 cart the cantilever should be straight.:yes:
 
dodog said:
I didn't want to threadcap jkilla's thread (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=511303&page=2) although it was quite timely as my AT OC9ML/II just arrived today.

So, a brand new cart but... I think there's a problem. I believe the cantilever is skewed and not straight. Well, I don't believe it is. It is. The pics are pretty self-explanatory:

frontrn.jpg

topxx.jpg


It's a bit hard to photograph the stylus with a camera (it is REALLY tiny). The front view shows a bit of blur from the low-light ISO I had used but the top-down view represents it rather well. This isn't straight and I can't imagine that that's a good thing.

I'm pretty bummed but already know the answer... should I return this for a different one? Does anyone have experience with LPGear's customer service?
Click to expand...
DEFINITELY return it!! I've bought a few things from LPGear and they are a good company to do business with. Call them
 
I'm kinda pissed that this was shipped out without anyone actually looking at it. I'll, most likely, have to pay for return shipping for something that could have (and should have) been avoided. I'm just too upset right now to make any calls so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.
 
BBB says this is the phone number:

Phone: (702) 631-7558
Fax: (702) 974-0220
3024 via Venezia, Henderson, NV 89052-3802
 
First of all

jkilla said:
I'd return mine but I've put about 5 hours on it

and shipping to the US is not cheap...yikes
Click to expand...

LPGear will exchange it and they cant open the boxes to examine

Second. They are WARENTEED by AT ..so no worries...I had one several months (different cart) and they replaced when the suspension failed.

So no worries...
 
I received mine today and the cantiliever on mine is straighter than yours. I am sorry to hear about your problem. I know what it's like to be excited about receiving gear and it not working properly......
 
I noticed a significant number of cases like this with different brands of cartridges. It seems to me that some vendors buy QC rejects and try sell them to public over Internet. They are probably quite successful in that effort - many people just do not know what constitutes broken cartridge. So this business model is very sound considering that original cost is very low.
 
f_p1: Honestly, I don't think that's true. Reason: If you were a cartridge manufacturer with a good reputation, would you risk that by letting get or even pushing your qc rejects/b stock into the market in full retail packaging without any further marking that would make that obvious? Probably rather not, I'd assume.

Hence I'd rather think that in cases like this either the exemplar slipped through quality control unnoticed for whatever reason - or the exemplar might even have developed the problem after already having left the factory, because with designs like that of the AT-OC9ers it just takes a bit of uneven settling in/compression/shrinking of the damper ring to make the cantilever point a bit sideways. And orientantion in storage might also play a little role, I could imagine, depending on the other storage condition and duration of storage...

Unfortunately such problems aren't equally easy to fix on all needle designs. On AT's dual/v magnet type needles it's usually not too difficult to fix, simply by rotating the damper ring into a better position. I already had to do myself on several new AT needles (both separate replacement needles and ones that came as part of a complete cartridge) bought from several different established vendors. In addition, I typically buy several needles or carts of the same type in one go, and so far it seems like exemplars with that kind of problem would occur pretty much at random, which in my view would also rather speak against your suspicion.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
You could also contact Audio Technica directly. I am pretty sure they have a customer service/satifaction department.
 
Sent LPGear an email for RMA.

Also see that there's an Audio Technica Canadian distributer that handles their warranty?
Hopefully I can go to them if I can't get a hold of LPgear
 
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