Garrott Brothers Agency

In the late 70s and 80s the two Garrott Brothers built up a reputation for their phono cartridge retipping service and a cartridge called the P77.  They supplied a high quality “parabolic” diamond stylus and were able to fit it to practically any phono cartridge, including moving coil types.  Len Gregory (The Cartridge Man) was their agent in the U.K.

The brothers both died in 1992 and the business was purchased by Audio Dynamics in Melbourne. They still offer a retipping service but with a range of stylus profiles (round, elliptical, shibata, microtracer, microscanner, Fritz Geiger Signature). They also now have an extended range of moving magnet and moving coil cartridges which have been highly reviewed.

We are now pleased to be able to offer this service.  You will need to post your cartridge to Decibel Hi Fi, PO Box 536, Sunnybank, Queensland, Australia  4109.  Please use registered post or make sure the cartridge is insured.

There is an inspection fee of A$40 (A$44 incl GST) which can be paid via the website. Once inspected we will contact you via email to confirm the total price for the retipping and any other service which may be required.

Retipping Price table:                  moving magnet                      moving coil or non-removable stylus assembly

round	$150	$190
elliptical	$175	$200
shibata (NOT AVAILABLE)	$200 N/A	$230 N/A
micro-tracer	$265	$300
Micro-scanner mkII	$315	$350
Fritz Geiger Signature	$400	$450

THESE PRICES DO NOT INCLUDE GST, which has to be added for Australian customers but not for overseas customers.  

It is also possible to replace the cantilever on some cartridges, with either Alloy ($80), Solid Boron ($250), Solid Sapphire ($280), or Solid Ruby ($300).

There are surcharges for retipping cartridges with Ruby, Diamond or Sapphire cantilevers - $60. For retipping cartridges with Beryllium or Boron cantilevers the surcharge is $75.

There are surcharges for certain cartridge brands - Koetsu, Kiseki, Garrott MC, Decca  - $300.

Some cartridges, although not moving coil, have non-removable stylus assemblies (eg Grado Statement series) and are therefore charged the same as moving coil.

They are no longer repairing Benz Micro moving coil cartridges. We are not able to buy parts for Dynavector cartridges but can retip them if they are undamaged.

Often a cartridge is unable to be upgraded, in this instance the $40 (+GST) inspection fee is the only charge unless you want the cartridge returned to you.

If you have a high quality cartridge which you wish to upgrade, or one which has lost its diamond stylus, use registered post to send it to us for retipping. Turnaround time for the service is usually 3 - 6 weeks.

Please Note!

Phono cartridges are mechanical instruments and are subject to wear and ageing.

Many cartridges coming in to the laboratory for repair and upgrade services are in a very poor state of health.  It is false economy to spend valuable listening time using a poorly performing cartridge that may be chewing up your irreplaceable record collection.  Diamond wear, suspension fatigue, hardening or softening of vital compliance control components, can all significantly affect the performance of your cartridge.

It is not always easy to identify problems that you have learned to live with, but the causes are obvious to our expert eyes and ears, and can usually be quickly remedied.

We will replace a worn diamond or perform a full upgrade with an appropriate selection from our range of advanced stylus profiles; the choice is yours.

There comes a time when total replacement is the obvious answer and we invite music lovers to review the Garrott range of new cartridges as a replacement and upgrade for your present system.