Stylus on new cartridge not lined up with cartridge body? (pics)

Mr. Lin · Nov 10, 2008

I just got my Ortofon D25 M mono cartridge in the mail. Upon examination I noticed that the stylus is not lined up straight with the cartridge body. You can see it in the pictures below; it's not just the angle at which I took the picture, the stylus is definitely skewed to the left (looking from the bottom).

Is the cartridge defective, or will I simply need to make sure the stylus is properly aligned and ignore the cartridge body?

synclavier82 · Nov 10, 2008

Yup I see it. You bought it new, right? If so, I'd ask to exchange it or for a refund.

Not that the stylus is always going to be 100% perfectly straight, (how can it be, nothing is perfect) but I don't think you should be able to see the error so plainly. With my MLa, I really have to study that thing to say that it's off center or not... and even then I'm never quite so sure.

Mr. Lin · Nov 10, 2008

synclavier82 said:
Yup I see it. You bought it new, right? If so, I'd ask to exchange it or for a refund.

Not that the stylus is always going to be 100% perfectly straight, (how can it be, nothing is perfect) but I don't think you should be able to see the error so plainly. With my MLa, I really have to study that thing to say that it's off center or not... and even then I'm never quite so sure.

Yeah I got it from lpgear. Their return policy states that defective merchandise can only be replaced, a refund is subject to a "restocking fee," which I think is bs.

Bigerik · Nov 10, 2008

Mr. Lin said:
Yeah I got it from lpgear. Their return policy states that defective merchandise can only be replaced, a refund is subject to a "restocking fee," which I think is bs.

Yup, I'd get another one too. You know how sensitive ANYTHING going through that groove is.

Mr. Lin · Nov 10, 2008

Bigerik said:
Yup, I'd get another one too. You know how sensitive ANYTHING going through that groove is.

True, but I'm just wondering if it would still be OK since the cantilever isn't bent, and I could still line up the stylus with my protractor. I'd also like to avoid paying re-stocking fees and eating shipping costs.

synclavier82 · Nov 10, 2008

Mr. Lin said:
True, but I'm just wondering if it would still be OK since the cantilever isn't bent, and I could still line up the stylus with my protractor. I'd also like to avoid paying re-stocking fees and eating shipping costs.

This from the guy who has a Benz Glider.

But seriously, I guess you could always try to line it up and see how it sounds. I'd wonder if it was damaging my vinyl though.

Mr. Lin · Nov 10, 2008

synclavier82 said:
This from the guy who has a Benz Glider.

Part of why I am currently nearly broke. :sigh:

ChairSpud · Nov 10, 2008

Mr. Lin said:
True, but I'm just wondering if it would still be OK since the cantilever isn't bent, and I could still line up the stylus with my protractor. I'd also like to avoid paying re-stocking fees and eating shipping costs.

Dave, I've done exactly that with off centered cantilevers and had excellent results. Correct me if I'm wrong but with a spherical stylus the cantilever should make no difference even off centered a bit like yours. Me, I'd play it the way it is.

As far as LPGear's replacement policy, I paid no restocking for the two defective 440MLa cartridges returned earlier this year. If you have your mind set on exchanging it, you might try emailing them. I found them very reasonable to deal with.

Sorry to hear of the problem, I know you've been looking forward to listening mono and this kinda puts a damper on things. Hope you're happy however it turns out.

Mr. Lin · Nov 10, 2008

ChairSpud said:
Dave, I've done exactly that with off centered cantilevers and had excellent results. Correct me if I'm wrong but with a spherical stylus the cantilever should make no difference even off centered a bit like yours. Me, I'd play it the way it is.

As far as LPGear's replacement policy, I paid no restocking for the two defective 440MLa cartridges returned earlier this year. If you have your mind set on exchanging it, you might try emailing them. I found them very reasonable to deal with.

Sorry to hear of the problem, I know you've been looking forward to listening mono and this kinda puts a damper on things. Hope you're happy however it turns out.

Thanks Dave. I knew I'd read reports of people using cartridges with the cantilever visibly off-center from the cartridge. It seems to me that, provided I align the cartridge properly according to the stylus itself, it should be OK. I think I'm going to contact lpgear and see what they recommend doing. I already have to return the new turntable belt they just sent me for my Pro-Ject as it's twice the size of the original. :no:

nu2toobs · Nov 10, 2008

Mr. Lin said:
True, but I'm just wondering if it would still be OK since the cantilever isn't bent, and I could still line up the stylus with my protractor. I'd also like to avoid paying re-stocking fees and eating shipping costs.

I met the guy that owns LPGear. He's a pretty good guy, I'd bet he'd stand by it. I bought a VPI 16.5 and picked it up to save shipping. He was very accommodating. Doesn't hurt to try.

Mr. Lin · Nov 10, 2008

I just sent them an e-mail with one of the pictures and asked what they think about it. I'd really like to just install it tomorrow night, but if it doesn't appear to be safe I'm sure they'll tell me.

cmb3366 · Nov 10, 2008

That is the exact reason I replaced my GAS with the Grado. The supension had torqued in a way in which it allowed the stylus and cantiliever ro ride on the left side of the cartridge looking at it head on. It didn't hurt the sound of the cartridge one bit, but it was a mistracking fool, it loved to get locked in undamaged grooves as it got toward the center of a record. Sounded great, but drove me nuts; so off it came.

Send that cartridge back, its not worth the potential headaches, now, or down the road when/if it gets worse.

Mr. Lin · Nov 10, 2008

cmb3366 said:
That is the exact reason I replaced my GAS with the Grado. The supension had torqued in a way in which it allowed the stylus and cantiliever ro ride on the left side of the cartridge looking at it head on. It didn't hurt the sound of the cartridge one bit, but it was a mistracking fool, it loved to get locked in undamaged grooves as it got toward the center of a record. Sounded great, but drove me nuts; so off it came.

Send that cartridge back, its not worth the potential headaches, now, or down the road when/if it gets worse.

Was your GAS as off-center as my Ortofon appears to be?

cmb3366 · Nov 11, 2008

Yes, possibly even a touch worse. You could tell it was off center just looking at it.

Mr. Lin · Nov 11, 2008

So I e-mailed the pictures to both lpgear and Ortofon last night. I haven't heard from lpgear, perhaps they're closed for the holiday. But once again Louis from Ortofon was right on top of my question, answering it immediately this morning (it's the third time I've e-mailed him in the past week). Rather than try to summarize what he said in response to the pictures and my question of whether or not the cartridge should be used, I'll just show the whole thing:

I see what you’re saying.

To tell you the truth, the OM D 25 M is a relatively high compliance design, and a very miniscule skew in the cantilever is not going to create any problems in sound or wear. If the cantilever was offset drastically to one side, then I would be very concerned, but this is actually the function of the rubber bearing to adapt to the direction the diamond is being pulled during playback.

This is especially considering that after the cartridge has been broken in adequately, it will actually straighten itself.

So I'm going to install the cartridge later tonight and see what happens. The only thing that bugs me a little is that the D25 M is a high-compliance cartridge (as Louis said), which won't be a good match for my tonearm. Based on the recommended VTF of 2-3g, I figured it was a low-compliance cartridge. But I've used high-compliance cartridges on the Thorens before and it worked just fine. I'll probably start another thread about the Ortofon if it ends up coming together nicely.

ChairSpud · Nov 11, 2008

Come on you're wastin' time go mount that sucker and tell us what that classic COOL Miles LP sounds like!

Mr. Lin · Nov 11, 2008

ChairSpud said:
Come on you're wastin' time go mount that sucker and tell us what that classic COOL Miles LP sounds like!

Sorry, I got a bit distracted with something else tonight. Happily I have off from work tomorrow, so that's what I'm going to be doing for most of the day. I'll get back to you on it.

op135 · Jan 27, 2015

i've got a similar problem with mine. i've always just aligned with the cantilever itself and not the cartridge body.

Catcher10 · Jan 27, 2015

If it is AT, send it to their service dept assuming it is under warranty still. They will inspect it, check it on their bench for specs and visually inspect. They will repair or replace it at their option...

Just went thru this with my OC9ML/II, my stylus was not skewed but rather a twist so that I needed to adjust azimuth. They concurred but sent me a new one on my warranty, rather than spend the time repairing it.

Stylus on new cartridge not lined up with cartridge body? (pics)

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Can you here that?

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This sentence is false.

Prog-tastic!

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