Buying from DaCapo Audio is easy and secure. We realize you may have never bought from DaCapo Audio before and have still to experience the highest level of customer service we aim to deliver. In the following, you will find answers to the most common questions from first-time DaCapo Audio customers.
If your question is not already answered below we look forward to assisting you through any of our available channels. Get in touch through email, chat, Facebook or phone.
GENERAL
Da Capo is a musical directive often seen written as D.C. in music scores. It means to return to the beginning or from the head as the direct translation from Italian means. (Maybe you see the D.C. reference in our logo as well)DaCapo Audio helps you to return the beginning - or should we say restore your turntable to its original glory or maybe even beyond that. That's why we feel DaCapo Audio was the right name for our businessKim, one of the owners, is an avid amateur musician. He plays 1. Clarinet / Solo Clarinet in Danish Concert Band one of Europe's best Concert Bands.
Dacapo Audio is a Danish company. All orders without exception are sent from Denmark.
We will be happy to help in advising, simply write to us at support@dacapoaudio.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
We only sell new products - or probably we should say "Unused" products. Some of our products are definitely not new - they are 50 years old. But still unused.So no second-hand used products but for sure many wonderful New Old Stock products to help you restore your classic turntable.
No, you don’t need to have an account. Once you are at the checkout, you will see that you can "Order as a guest" with us. If you are a registered customer then we advise you to complete the purchase as a registered customer.
No, unfortunately this is not possible as DaCapo Audio is a webshop only.
We aim to price our products competitively. If we fail, please contact us and we shall try our best to help you.
You are very welcome to contact us and ask for a quote. If you order several similar items we can often offer you a discount.
We are Authorized Resellers of JICO, Nagaoka, Audio Technica, Sumiko, Goldring, Tonar, Analogis and Pro-Ject. This means we buy directly from the brand itself or the local distributor.
We have shipping costs, but, other than that, No.
We have no hidden fees. No payment fees, no handling fees, no service charges. Only the cost of the product as shown and the shipping cost.
In fact, if you shop from outside the EU you will experience that we deduct 20% from the product price when you enter your non-EU shipping address. Non-EU customers are VAT exempt so we deduct the Danish VAT on checkout. Please be aware that any import duties imposed during shipping are your responsibility. Please investigate closely what import duties are applicable in your country before ordering.
The cost of delivery will be added automatically to your basket so you see the total price before you pay. Please see “What is the shipping cost to my country” above.
We are big fans of the saying: “Sharing is caring.” So as soon as we have any changes that might affect your order we will contact you. Plus we frequently update our Blog page with good and the less good news from us.
MY ACCOUNT
It takes 2 minutes tops! To make an account you will need to provide us with: full name, email, and password. After registration, you will receive an email with further instructions from us.
Yes, at any given point you can delete your account. Once you are logged in, you will find under the “Personal info” section an option to “Delete your account”.
PRODUCTS
Once you are on our site, in the right upper corner you will see our search bar. Feel free to search for your stylus by its reference. i.e. N44 Stylus for Shure. All other products can be found by their full name.
There are a few elements we would love for you to know about because they are there for you:
Every product page has a 3-column table placed below the “ADD TO CART” button. It consists of shipping & in-stock status, and payment security. We want this to be visible as soon as you define in the upper left corner where you want your order to be shipped to and which currency you would like to pay with.
We continuously take photos of our products so you can have a better “feel” of them. If you are in pursuit of a stylus then you will see 360-degree pictures so you can inspect the needle accordingly. Keep in mind, there are products on the site that are at the moment without a photo. This is due to two reasons: we are yet to order it from our supplier and/or we are in process of taking photos of it. Besides that, we are also in process of daily updates of product descriptions.
If you are in doubt about which replacement stylus or any other item you should buy, feel free to either give us a call or write to us and attach clear pictures of the item and we will be happy to help!
First of all, we are proud to photograph the products we sell in a quality good enough for you to notice the tiny JICO.eu stamp on our JICO products!
All of our JICO products are genuine JICO products manufactured by JICO in Japan but meant for distribution in Europe only (the Middle East and Africa included). The product is exactly the same no matter the watermark.
We are authorised resellers of JICO and we buy all JICO products from JICO’s European distributor, but we can only resell them to customers in the territory they are ment for. Throughout the shop we write that JICO products are available to customers in Europe only.
In other regions of the world the JICO products have a different watermark typically stamped to the cantilever tube.
We highlight in the product name if it is an original or a replacement.
For every cartridge there will be an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) that either sells the cartridge under their own brand or allows someone else to sell it under theirs. Ortofon and Audio Technica are good examples of companies that do both. It is usual for the OEMs to also produce the relevant spare/replacement parts and that ensures maximal uniformity between the original part and the replacement - an Ortofon OM-30 with a new Ortofon Stylus 30 can be expected to behave exactly like a new OM-30. We use the word 'original' to describe a replacement part produced by the OEM, even when this replacement part is marked with a different brand or has neutral branding.
The alternative to an original stylus is an aftermarket stylus - see our answer to 'What is an aftermarket stylus?'
Sometimes there will be companies other than the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) that manufacture stylus replacements for a given cartridge. The most prevalent reason for this is that OEM parts are no longer available or have become prohibitively expensive. We use the word 'aftermarket' to describe a replacement part produced by a non-OEM. The quality of such aftermarket replacements varies from reasonable to outstanding - sometimes the aftermarket parts are actually better than the originals. Our aftermarket replacements are generally very good, and we will recommend them without hesitation in most situations.
The alternative to an aftermarket stylus is an original stylus - see our answer to 'What is an original stylus?'
When an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) produces a spare part for your equipment, like a belt or arm for your turntable or a stylus for your cartridge, then we call this an original part. The actual branding of the part does not matter - as long as it is produced by the OEM we call it an original part.
When companies other than the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) manufacture spare parts for your equipment, like belts or arms for your turntable or styli for your cartridge, then we call them aftermarket parts. It does not matter if they perform better or worse than the corresponding original parts - as long as they are produced by a non-OEM we call them aftermarket parts.
If you cannot find a product on our website, we welcome you to write to us an email about the mentioned matter.
Yes, we offer a 2-year warranty.
DELIVERY & SHIPPING
We ship replacement styli and cartridges almost anywhere in the World. Exceptions are JICO and Nagaoka products which we only ship within Europe, In addition, some regions far away from Denmark are not serviced currently due to Covid-19.
Available shipping options and associated costs are always calculated and shown during the check-out process. You can also see the available options and prices at any time by clicking the little flag at the top of the page.
Please write us an email and we will get back to you.
All shipments are insured by DaCapo Audio against accidental loss and damage during shipment. Please let us know as soon as possible if you receive a package that appears to be damaged or you suspect it to be lost.
We pack your order with the safest regards to your item and sustainability.
You can find the tracking number in the email titled “Shipped” that is sent by us. If you cannot find it, for any reason, please send us an email.
Temporary change: Because of the Current COVID-19 shipping times may be negatively affected. We already added a safety margin to the estimated shipping times. We dispatch daily and completely as usual. Further, the Danish Postal service handles our shipments very fast and they almost always leave Denmark within 24 hours. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions about delivery.
Your total delivery time is the sum of time it takes us to dispatch your order and time in transit with the parcel courier.
Delivery Time = Dispatch Time + Transit Time
Dispatch Time
We show on every product if we have it in stock and what the expected dispatch time is. For in-stock items, we ship the same or next business day. Products currently not in stock will take us 2-3 business days to dispatch. If you order before 14 CET we will normally process your order on the same business day.
Transit Time
The transit time depends on your location. It will take longer for your goods to reach you on the Samoan Islands than next door in Copenhagen.
We use Postnord, the “national” Danish Post. They state the following transit times
Europe 1-6 business days
World 4-15 business days
Because of Covid-19, the expected transit times we show during checkout have a significant safety margin added.
If we are shipping to a remote island in the Pacific Ocean you should probably expect the maximum transit time, which we admit is a very long time to wait for a replacement needle when you have a stack of records just waiting to be played.
That being said, we often see very speedy shipments. Recently we noted a customer in South Korea receiving his needle after only 4 workdays and the same for a customer in the US.
So in reality closer and more well-connected areas ( to Denmark ) often have shipping times in the faster end while the more remote places of the World are towards the slow end. But in the end, your expectations should be in accordance with the above stated service levels.
Shipping costs vary but are always shown during check-out before you place your order. Please see the current rates on our Shipping cost page.
If you have not received an email from us titled “Shipped” then you still have a brief window through which we can update your shipping address so please write to us as soon as possible so we can adjust it.
Please keep in mind that we communicate on our Delivery Rates page that the estimated delivery is counted for working days. This means weekends and holidays are not counted for. If your order has not been delivered within the estimated time frame, we advise you to reach out to us.
You can find your tracking link in the email titled “Shipped”.
PAYMENTS
We offer a wide range of payment options. Please see the logos at the footer of this page for a list of available payment options.
We recommend paying by credit cards because credit cards make it possible for us to offer you the safest and most convenient shopping experience possible. When you place your order a reservation for the order amount is made on your credit card. The amount is not drawn until we actually ship your goods.
Yes, we use SSL encryption to ensure your payment information is kept safe. Plus we have partnered up with Stripe. A platform that has the highest certification standards when it comes to security and compliance.
RETURNS & REFUNDS
We are very sorry to hear that, because our intention is to make you happy and let you enjoy your records. Here is what we will do if you are an EU customer:
Within 14 days we will take the product back with a smile and refund you. We give you a full refund if the item is largely in the same condition as when you received it.
Please request a return on the website within 14 days and we will instruct you how to return the item(s).
You are responsible for the safe return. Please package all items carefully and send the package tracked and insured for your own safety. The cost of return shipping is paid by the customer.
Please do not send back items you broke or mistreated. We inspect all needles that go out and all needles that come back. If it is broken upon return we can’t refund you. If it is used in ways beyond what is needed to determine its functionality and features we will deduct an amount equal to the depreciation of the item.
We hardly ever experience issues with returns and are almost always able to refund items fully. We encourage you to reach out to us as soon as possible if you have doubts about a product you received from us and we will find a solution.
Here is what we will do if you are not an EU consumer.
All sales to customers that are not EU consumers are considered final. However, we are committed to quality and customer satisfaction. If you encounter any issues with a product, please contact us immediately. We will gladly replace or repair any defective items inside warranty to ensure your satisfaction.
We encourage you to share you experiences with others. Both the good and the less good. Please consider adding a product review on the product page and please use our Facebook page to post your questions and experiences. Remember to tell why a product is good or bad - a 1-star review of a 7 euro needle because it does not sound as good as a 359 euro needle may not be that helpful to others.
When you, as a consumer, shop with DaCapo Audio your purchases are covered by a 24-month warranty. You should carefully read the exact conditions in our “Terms and Conditions”. They are sent to you by email when you place an order and are also available on our site. This is only a quick explanation in layman’s terms.
To justify as a warranty case the fault or defect, or at least its cause should be inherent in the product when you receive it.
We advise that you check your purchase for completeness, visible defects and transport damage as soon as it is delivered. If you have any concerns please contact us immediately.
If you at a later point experience a fault or defect we will offer to repair, replace, or refund your goods, depending on the situation provided that your warranty claim is justified.
The fault or defect is not justified if caused by misuse of the product or other damaging behavior.