NOS cartridges

I am not so sure, I have cartridges over 20 years old I use occasionally and they are used as well as old. I have considered buying NOS and would if I wanted the cartridge.

I hardly think that I belong to Raul's posse considering the disagreements we have had in the past. As I said I use older cartridges all the time, in a recent test in HIFICRITIC a 18 year old Shure V-15, put in as a reference, outscored several NEW MCs and MMs, some by a large margin. Although I use MCs myself and have since the 70s older MMs can work well. I recently bought a Grace F9E on a used Linn, worked fine and I sold it to a MM user. Took me back to my Grace dealer days. I thought changing your cartridge every 18 months was intended to sell you a new cartridge, it may have applied to el cheapo cartridges but no one I knew paid any attention to it. Nor was it in the dealer lit in the days when there was such a thing. Some of the most respected reviewers talk about cartridges they have used for years, I have never read of one discarding a cartridge because it was old.

While I ceased being a dealer for some years I am now one again and I certainly do not consider myself lost in todays audio. I have been a dealer for Supex, Ortofon, Grace, Shure , Sumiko and others in the past and now am a Dynavector and Van den Hul dealer as well as a VPI dealer. I admit that I have lost interest in the parts of the market that feature components costing over $20,000 each. If you want to think that cartridges are good for only 18 months that is your privilege. If anyone out there has an 18 month old Koetsu Rosewood and is ready to throw it away I'll give you $200 for it.

Rayr2, If you think the Shures were the best cartridges ever available there is not much more to say. I have been in audio since 1962 myself. Since my PhD is in the History of Science I have some slight acquaintance with it, especially with regard to scientific argumentation. Announcing that something is "Science" is not a good example of it. Nor is quoting statements by others without evidence. This is a forum designed to let members express their views; apparently you are uncomfortable that some of us have ones that differ from yours. That is your problem, not mine. No one has a gun to your head forcing you to buy old cartridges. All I can say is that I am currently considering buying a NOS Ortofon on ebay for my own use. As to which of us knows more about audio I invite anyone in doubt to look at our past posts on this forum.