The conical and elliptical styli both touch the groove wall just at one point on each side (wall) of the groove ("the area of the above mentioned contact surface figure becomes small") The only difference is that the conical stylus rides higher in the groove than the elliptical, so the two contact points are higher up the groove wall. An elliptical stylus is made by simply taking a conical stylus and shaving a flat bevel into the front and back of the cone which makes the bottom of the stylus have the shape of one half of an ellipse. Shibata styli added additional beveling to the sides of the stylus in an attempt to achieve more contact area but could only do so in a limited way or risk shattering the diamond.
Enter the laser which permitted shaping the diamond without actually touching it. This allowed for the development of the "line contact" or "micro-ridge" stylus (same thing) which oversimplified, you can visualize as an upside-down pyramid turned 45 degrees to the groove, so that two of the opposite sloping edges touch each side (wall) of the groove in a line from top to bottom.
This provided for better retrieval of the information in the groove, as well a allowing more contact area and reducing the PSI (pounds per square inch) of pressure against the groove wall(s).
An additional benefit of the line contact stylus has to do with the playing of (old) records that had been played with only conical or elliptical styli. First, imagine a horizontal "wear line" halfway down the groove wall(s) like a layer of different colored rock halfway down the wall of the Grand Canyon. This is from the contact point of the conical or elliptical stylus on each side of the groove.
The line contact stylus, by contrast, touches the groove wall in a "line" from top to bottom of each side of the groove, JUMPING OVER the wear line from the old stylus. IT DOESN'T TOUCH THE WORN PART OF THE GROOVE, ONLY NEW VINYL! Cool, huh?
I'll never forget back around 1990 when I got my first van den Hul cartridge, and was playing some favorite records from my 60s college days. They'd been reasonably well cared for, but previously played using Shure cartridges with elliptical styli -- and they were somewhat "crackly and clicky" as you put it. Imagine my surprise when the playback with the vdH was almost noise-free! I'd been told to expect that by the fellow who sold me the cartridge, but it was really quite amazing to hear.
Enter the laser which permitted shaping the diamond without actually touching it. This allowed for the development of the "line contact" or "micro-ridge" stylus (same thing) which oversimplified, you can visualize as an upside-down pyramid turned 45 degrees to the groove, so that two of the opposite sloping edges touch each side (wall) of the groove in a line from top to bottom.
This provided for better retrieval of the information in the groove, as well a allowing more contact area and reducing the PSI (pounds per square inch) of pressure against the groove wall(s).
An additional benefit of the line contact stylus has to do with the playing of (old) records that had been played with only conical or elliptical styli. First, imagine a horizontal "wear line" halfway down the groove wall(s) like a layer of different colored rock halfway down the wall of the Grand Canyon. This is from the contact point of the conical or elliptical stylus on each side of the groove.
The line contact stylus, by contrast, touches the groove wall in a "line" from top to bottom of each side of the groove, JUMPING OVER the wear line from the old stylus. IT DOESN'T TOUCH THE WORN PART OF THE GROOVE, ONLY NEW VINYL! Cool, huh?
I'll never forget back around 1990 when I got my first van den Hul cartridge, and was playing some favorite records from my 60s college days. They'd been reasonably well cared for, but previously played using Shure cartridges with elliptical styli -- and they were somewhat "crackly and clicky" as you put it. Imagine my surprise when the playback with the vdH was almost noise-free! I'd been told to expect that by the fellow who sold me the cartridge, but it was really quite amazing to hear.