New Cartridge- Broke the Stylus
New to vinyl, bought a real nice Rega Planar II and listened for a couple weeks with the original R100 cartridge- enough to get hooked. I had the turntable checked, set up and had a new Ortofon 2M Blue put on.
I went to clean it with the supplied brush and tried to follow the diagram how to use it. I had no problems with the "LAST" brush that came with the turntable. The stylus broke off......
At least I got about 4 hours listening in. Now I am in addict mode waitng for a solution to play the great vinyl I scored recently. The store where I got the cartridge needs to check whether the stylus is replaceable- It doesn't look like it. Guess I will have to spring for a new stylus= $165.00
Any tips on cleaning?
I went to clean it with the supplied brush and tried to follow the diagram how to use it. I had no problems with the "LAST" brush that came with the turntable. The stylus broke off......
At least I got about 4 hours listening in. Now I am in addict mode waitng for a solution to play the great vinyl I scored recently. The store where I got the cartridge needs to check whether the stylus is replaceable- It doesn't look like it. Guess I will have to spring for a new stylus= $165.00
Any tips on cleaning?
11 responses Add your response
Dear St1114_nj: IMHO and due that that cartridge has only four hours of work/play seems to me that it is almost imposible that cleaning with a brush any cartridge stylus could be broken off if the cartridge stylus is on " specs ". It seems to me that that Ortofon stylus was not right glued and you have the right to ask for warranty. Through the years I found with similar ( more dramatic ) problems: stylus cartridge ( in a new cartridge. ) that after 10 sg goes out!!! so what you experienced IMHO was/is a fault on that cartridge. Regards and enjoy the music, Raul. |
I would use the Onzow Zerodust stylus cleaner. It's a bit pricey but it's absolutely worth it! I use it before and after each play on my Benz Ebony cartridge and I can't say I remember a time that a record sounded distorted due to the stylus being dirty plus it uses a super soft plastic bubble you just lower your stylus onto and lift and the dirt sticks to it so it babies your cartridge/cantilever and can be washed and reused indefinately. |
When I went to pick up the turntable, the installer went to play it for me. He had some trouble removing the stylus cover and was fooling around in that area for some time-eventually kneeling on the floor to see better. I couldn't see exactly, but I know he messed around with the stylus and/or cover for a good 2 minutes. Keep in mind the turntable setup and cartridge installation had already been done. It played after that but I wonder if some damage had not been done. It was weak on the left channel and thats why I went to clean it in the first place. I asked him about that but he said he removed the stylus cover but did not admit to anything else. |
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N80nut....Forget the Zerodust. Better and way cheaper is Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Cut a 1/2 inch thick, 1 inch square from the block, put it on the turntable, cue your arm into/onto the Magic Eraser - up and down via the cuing mechanism, brush the stylus back to front if you feel you need to....done. Get the Magic Eraser block (a lifetime supply) at your food store. |
A_white, for stylus cleaning, use it dry. Here are links to my original post and an an article describing the Magic Eraser's material properties, with electron microscope photos . If you search here you'll find additional usage tips but the basic principles have not changed except in one respect: several cartridge manufacturers have recommended cleaning the stylus after every side. This is to prevent the buildup of loose vinyl molecules which get attached to a stylus by heat and pressure at the stylus-vinyl interface. This happens even with perfectly cleaned LP's. A 5 second cleaning after each side will keep any stylus as clean as a new one. Of course I'd recommend reading the instructions before using this or any stylus cleaner. |
