Visit VAS, Cliffwood, NJ
 

I have a couple of cartridges I want to sell and decided they were worthy of a check-up by Steve Leung at his company VAS. As is only 90min up the road, a friend and I paid Steve a visit to drop off the carts and see Steve's operation. To put it in a word............. amazing. Steve is not just a consummate cartridge guru, he is collector of pretty much everything audio. We listened to his redone Denon 103 with a wood body on a 12" VPI TA on a tweaked fly-wheel drive TNT and it was amazing how well done it was thru his SUT into an ARC preamp and a pair of Steve's H-K monoblock amps driving a pair of B&W 802D3s. I can say without a doubt that this was the best I've ever heard a pair of B&W speakers sound.
And.......... Steve convinced me that I should let him work on my Lyra Kleos and to put a new stylus in my Dynavector XX2 MKII. I've not thought that highly of either and he promises that his magic will transform them.
Steve has 40,000+ LPs and just slightly less in vintage & new gear (well.... 100 pieces of gear, or so) between his shop and home. Some amazing pieces, like original WE 300B amps made for the cinema and the military.
A really fun visit, topped off with a visit to VPI, which is next door.

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1665529326
https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1665529355
https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1665529355

Steve rebuilt my Ortofon Cadenza Black and it came back better than new. I also have a VAS Nova specialty built for Harry W. at VPI and it is an outstanding cartridge. Steve does great work.

Steve says that my Kleos will be as good as the Etna when I get it back. He is going to rebuild from the motor out (new boron cantilever & stylus).
Plus, he is a Dynavector fan and said I will be very happy with the new stylus he will mount on the existing cantilever on my XX2 MKII.

I walked in expecting to spend $100 for the check-up of the two carts before selling and walked out having spent $1000. I'm weak............. ;)

Here is a short video of Steve's B&W 802D2 system. It is superb.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zBQRr2gQa-o