A replacement part for your turntable or cartridge may be produced either by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM parts) or by a different company (Aftermarket parts). When an OEM part is produced to the exact specifications of the original part and labelled as such we call it an original part.
It is important to note that non-original parts are NOT REPLICAS of original parts. Although they are intended to be compatible, they may differ from originals in any and all aspects and should be considered as viable alternatives with distinct properties. Regardless of the objective quality of an non-original part like a stylus may, for example, differ in the following aspects:
- Recommended tracking force
- Output level
- Material, tracking angle, and length of cantilever
- Fit
- Sound quality
- Compliance
- Visual appearance
- Technical working principle
- Tracking height (If the operating distance of the cartridge to the record is much smaller than when using an original part we use the term Low Tracker)
- Mounting method, material, and dimensions of the tip
Such deviations do not constitute production fault and do not indicate a faulty product.
We, DaCapo Audio , have tested suggested replacement stylus types to ascertain that they produce adequate sound quality in our test environment. A given stylus type may exhibit less satisfactory performance in other environments. This does not in itself constitute a production fault or indicate that a stylus is faulty.