Do You Play Or Save Your Best Cartridges

I have a strong tendency to hoard while saving the "best" for later. However, with cartridges and vinyl that rather defeats the purpose of having them in the first place. So in fact my best cartridge (Blue Lace) on my best arm (FR64S) gets the most play time. On the 2nd arm I rotate though many other MC cartridges, where no one cartridge (including other Koetsus) has emerged as a definitive #2. I keep looking for that other cart which will match the Blue Lace’s enjoyability factor - and that certainly is possible in the short term (a sonic flavor change is always refreshing) - but getting this to stick in the long run remains elusive.

That said if you have OOP / NOS cartridges in your collection, that would certainly increase the instinct to "save it for later".

* I don’t do "casual" listening here. ~ 4 - 7 hours of "focused" listening per week, which greatly reduces the burden on my best cart.

what does a 10,000 dollar cartridge do better than a $1,000 one?

@grislybutter There are so many variable in analog playback, this will never be sufficiently answered. However at some point the price comes down enough that it dictates materials, design, and assembly choices which are less than optimal. It’s not that they can’t sound good in the right setup, it’s that something more expensive or exotic *could* sound better. At $1000:

• Aluminum pipe cantilever is almost a given. Boron cantilevers are very rare here. Cantilever has a big impact on sound. Aluminum is generally considered warmer, and boron more detailed / clean sounding.
• Neodymium magnets. Alnico / platinum / permendur / samarium-cobalt magnets are not seen at this price point. Magnet absolutely has a significant impact on the sound. Neodymiums are generally punchy but brash compared to the more velvety smooth sound from exotic magnets.
• Body material - noting exotic here; you’re lucky to get aluminum. But you’re more likely to get some kind of plastic, resin wood, or delrin. Bodies are a more subtle impact than magnet or cantilever, but still there.
• Coil and motor assembly. Being handmade, there is much variation in production. Many manufactures select the "best" finished motors for their higher end models. The lower grade motors get earmarked for the $1000 models :)
• Stylus - I’m not too hung up on stylus, as I think even a nude elliptical can sound exceptional. But it definitely NEEDS to be a nude shank, high quality diamond. Bonded tips suck.

You can certainly find used cartridges and "deals" for new cartridges at $1000 that sound awesome. But for me (and others) the "what if" drives us to try more and more exotic examples too. Yes - there are nuances, subtleties, and refinements that make the expense worthwhile (to us, sometimes). But a properly setup and matched $1000 "good deal" cartridge can definitely sound badass too :) In a 2nd system I’m now running a Benz Wood I got off here for $1000, and it really doesn’t give up THAT much to the exotic big rig (with the $10K+ cart). But the little Benz has definitely been provided the "right" partners in arm and phono stage - that’s absolutely crucial. The Ortofon Cadenza Red is another near-$1K cartridge I’ve really liked a lot in the past.