i bought a used dynavector karet (17?) here on a-gon quite a while back. had it a couple months before mounting it. well, finally mounting it, i had everything done, ready-to-go, & when putting the tonearm lock into its position to awoid damage when carrying the 'table back to its rack, i knocked the arm across the platter, & the stylus /shaft went flying, never to be seen again! aaarrrrgggghh!
i bought a symphonic-line re-tipped lyra clavis recently, it still sits in its box. i really *do* like my current ortofon mc-25fl, but i wonder how much my experience w/the dynavector is delaying my mounting the gnu cartridge... ;~) i bet most mishaps are to cartridges, due to their fragile nature... my wife destroyed the stylus shaft of my sumiko blue-point two days after i had received the ortofon, so i told her she shouldn't feel too bad - it was on its last legs anyways. i still have a nos blue-point sittin' in the box, never mounted, *yust-in-case*!
regards, doug