What happens when the stylus tip wears out on a $12,000 cartridge?

I have read several times that it is found that the MAJORITY of wear is on only one side, because the anti-skate has not been properly adjusted.

I should have also mentioned improper azimuth as another cause of wear on one side of a stylus.

once again, tools and skills for alignment are critical to success.

Before you buy it, check with Steve Leung at VAS, ask him if he can re-tip and/or rebuild suspension/cantilever/tip. Worse than wear would be bending or snapping the cantilever.

I sometimes buy broken cartridges that I know he can rebuild. I ask him first, he tells me which ones are bad choices to work on.

IGNORE COST, when to check/replace/rebuild?

I made a chart, forgot I made it.

I have a general idea of how many hours/week I listen to LPs, use that to guess life, then ship to someone you trust to evaluate it/rebuild it.

Say it's estimated good for another 200 hours, you could try selling it with that established expectation documented, go ahead and buy a new one for yourself.

Audio Technica has a program for their MC cartridges: they check it, if worn they offer to keep it and sell you a new one at substantially reduced price. I bought a new replacement  AT33PTG/II at half price

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Soundsmith has a chart giving 'average' life expectancy for various stylus shapes.

"Wear, Tear and Life

So we know that the more extreme line contacts reduce wear.... but what is the difference?

Apparently according to Jico (manufacturer of the highly regarded SAS stylus), the amount of playing time where a stylus will maintain its specified level of distortion at 15kHz is as follows:

• Spherical / Conical     - 150hrs
• Elliptical                        - 250hrs
• Shibata/Line contact  - 400hrs
• SAS/MicroRidge          - 500hrs

This is not to say that at 500 hrs a SAS stylus is "worn out" - but at that stage the wear has reached the point where distortion at 15kHz surpasses the level specified by Jico for a new stylus. (Which I believe is 3%).

Some manufacturers have traditionally defined a stylus as being "worn out" when it starts to damage the record... in these terms the figures provided by Jico can at least be doubled, and in some cases quadrupled."

excerpt from here:

https://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information

 

 

I always say: advanced stylus does cost more, but figure in the 'average' longer life, they do not cost much more.

12K, noooooo wayyyyyyyyyyyy

AVERAGE

I’m no expert, I post what I have read by reliable sources.

It’s very hard to believe a diamond can wear so quickly (on average), however, the forces occurring in the groove are tremendous.

Jico is the source of the AVERAGE life expectancy chart Soundsmith included in their article about stylus shapes, based on Jico’s EXPERT research.

It is qualified, based on technical performance (not based on occurence to damage grooves, I think our biggest concern)

"stage the wear has reached the point where distortion at 15kHz surpasses the level specified by Jico for a new stylus. (Which I believe is 3%)."

Many have said they get 1000, 2000 hours, that is great, saves a LOT of money: but according to Jico they are statistically playing well into the % of distortion, perhaps unable to hear it. After all, by the time we can afford good stuff, we are OLD (on average), ability to hear high frequencies diminished (on average).Groove damage may or may not be occurring after a certain point.

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MAJORITY

I’m not in the majority, are you? Of course we are all part of the majority even if we get superior results than the majority’s lower average.

I have read several times that it is found that the MAJORITY of wear is on only one side, because the anti-skate has not been properly adjusted.

Which means: the MAJORITY of vinyl listeners are not getting balanced performance, (audible and stylus/groove wear) from the 1st hour or beginning at some point since a cartridge was improperly factory/dealer aligned, or subsequently adjusted/replaced.

AND those misaligned stylus wear earlier than properly aligned, contributing to the AVERAGE short life they find.

Alignment tools and skills are of vital importance in Vinyl systems.

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A spherical stylus (any stylus) does not know what cantilever/cartridge it is on, or how it is mounted (nude or bonded).

Jico says Spherical wear much more quickly than other stylus shapes, based on their research findings, AND quite logical considering the tremendous groove forces are concentrated on the smallest amount of groove wall contact, spherical the least contact area thus highest wear.

“The Shibata was developed just because of the wear observed from elliptical styli when developing CD4, in the years just before 1970. In order for an elliptical to track CD4 45khz, exceedingly high VTF was needed, and wear was too high. Shibata improved that a lot, and today several line contacts have equal or even greater contact patch compared to Shibata.
A MicroLine tracking at 2g, for instance. It’s contact patch is much larger”

That’s advanced stylus shapes compared to Elliptical which has far more contact surface than spherical.

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This is why, On AVERAGE, a more expensive advanced stylus shape does not cost as much over time, their larger contact surface minimizing wear to both itself and your grooves.

IF your stylus lasts 3 times what Jico says, the difference between Spherical and Advanced Stylus Shape is still relative x3, and the cost per hour of an advanced stylus shape is even lower, 3 times lower? At some point the advanced stylus shape is SAVING you money, all the while delivering better performance/less groove wear!!!

No matter what, cartridge alignment is FUNDAMENTALLY CRITICAL.

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Back to $12k cartridge: no way is that going to save you money!!!

 

SUCCESS is/was achieved for:

that cartridge, that stylus shape, that tracking weight, that proper alignment in all respects, those new/properly cleaned LPs ...... EVERYTHING ’right’ makes a huge difference, far above Average.

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I like low tracking weight

1.0g Shure V15vxmr Shure (max 1.25)

1.25 Shure 97xe; AT440ml; AT14SA; AT TR485U

1.5 Grado Mono

1.7g Goldring Eroica

2.0 AT33PTG/II (both Stereo and Mono versions); Sumiko Talisman S

as you can see, I don’t buy expensive cartridges, but I get excellent sound out of my current variety, which I hope NOT to add to.

Wear is also minimized when you use a variety, but alignment skills are important for initial overhang/null points, then VTA/tracking force/anti-skate each time you change the headshell. Easy and precise arm height adjustment is a gift you give yourself, you can change tracking weight/anti-skating very quickly after a while.

Level always on the TT deck, I re-check tracking/anti-skate every few months anyway. Dust in/on the arm/mite pee in the bearings, who knows

It is worth repeating, the alignment of advanced styli is more critical than spherical or elliptical. Not just for best audible results, also to prevent damage the mis-aligned advanced stylus can make.

The tools are inexpensive, the skills are readily acquired after a few tries, someone showing you hands on very helpful. Confidence grows. I have taught several friends, they handle it themselves now. One ’knows’, has all the tools, done it himself while I was watching, but is still waiting for me to finish recovering from recent heart surgery so I can do it for him. I try not to use the word cowardly ....

Seriously, it is liberating to be able to change/align cartridges. Hands on, making a difference yourself is part of the great enjoyment of Vinyl. Hands on, the lack thereof, was a big part of early unhappiness with CD players.