Diamond Stylus Enters the 4th Dimension


So, I went to play a Chet Baker Album last night. Lowered the arm, flipped og the mute switch and.......GARBAGE!

The cantilever looked fine. On examination with my USB microscope I confirmed a sullen fact. The diamond had gone AWOL. There is just a little glue left on the end of the cantilever which is completely undamaged. It is a Clearaudio Charisma cartridge.

Anyone ever have this happen? I played records the day before no problem. I did not take anything to the stylus brush or otherwise. I do use an Audio Technica tonearm lift but it's trigger mechanism is so light. I can't believe that did it and it certainly should not do it. IMHO the cantilever should break before the diamond gets knocked off. 

The cartridge is four months old and I got it from Elusive Disc. It has a two year warranty. Here is where the rubber hits the road. 
128x128mijostyn

Showing 2 responses by noromance

That bites. Happened me with a rare Decca Grey Garrott Bros. But I had manage to send it bouncing across a record. Funny that I didn't know the diamond had been ripped off leaving a naked clasp like an empty engagement ring. The metal prong played reasonably well but with some noise. 
@mijostyn Yeah, it was a stupid mistake of temporary gross hamfistedness. I was adjusting VTA with the arm in it’s friction clamp from which it escaped. I played half the side before intervening. Record seemed completely fine when played on other table.