Kagura HD stylus tip

Of all the stylus replacement providers, LP GEAR is most committed to quality. This commitment led us to be involved in the supply chain of stylus production. The rest are mostly traders — they just buy and sell. There is nothing wrong with that. I am just noting the difference and the different roads taken.

Through the years we have learned that for product quality and sound quality, it pays to place particular attention to detail, in production, sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, and retailing. Thus our early ties with high-quality stylus related companies, such as: Tonar, Audio-Technica, Excel, and a few others we cannot mention due to NDA. As ties and relationships go, some have fallen due to personnel snd strategic policy changes. Another lesson learned — we do not really have permanent relationships with companies. We have relationships with people.

In the last several years, Covid dealt a near-fatal blow to our supply chain. The dwindling number of stylus related manufacturers closed down due to fatalies within their irreplaceable and aging labor force and management. One of these is stylus tip suppliers. There are less than five stylus tip manufacturers and they had limited production. Thus sequentially, for several years, there was very limited supply of stylus replacements. This caused the dramatic rise in prices, cutbacks in product models and a stagnation in product quality.

LP GEAR flourished because of our extensive back-up inventory. BUT we were not happy because our mission is world-enjoyment of record playing. High prices and lack of suplly discourage that. Thus our quest to introduce a stylus tip that is price competitive, better in sound quality than current offerings, and with ample production capability. To our delight and surprise, we have found it. We inspected it, tested it ourselves and with listeners in Japan. We call it Kagura, Japanese meaning — for entertaining gods. Apropriate, we believe.

We will be converting our stock to Kagura. To promote higher sound quality and record-playing enjoyment, Kagura will also be available to stylus replacement manufacturers.