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What is the life of a Grado Wood cartridge?

I spoke with John Chapis,chief engineer of Grado and I asked him how long does a wooden cartridge last.He stated well you've got 2 minutes to talk to me.How does 5,000 hours sound to you.It all depends on the care of your vinyl
and the use of a stylus cleaner.If you use clean records
it should last you a very long time.
I spoke with other dealers who stated it should be changed before 1,000 hours due to the inward parts detereating over time even if the cartridge is not being used.
What is the coorect answer? Was John just trying to sell me his top of the line cartridge,or was he just giving me an answer I wanted to hear?
128x12876doublebass
johnnantais
621 posts
 
I do believe the question of longevity of the Grados, like the ADCs and Sonuses, is more a question of suspension life than stylus life (all reports of dead Grados I've heard so far are dead suspensions): the heavier the tonearm, the lesser its lifespan, the lighter the tonearm, the longer the lifespan. I use my Grado Platinum on an ultra-low mass Black Widow for this reason, and Dave's SME IIIS is also an ultra-low-mass tonearm. Stylus life depends on so many factors the spread is probably quite large, from 500 hours to more than a thousand, depending on condition of records, stylus hygiene and so on.
76doublebass's avatar
76doublebass OP
254 posts
 
So 2 hours of playing a day would put you at about 1year and 4 months for a 1,000 hour usage.If memory serves me correct my old AT20SL lasted way over 5 years plus.
Maybe we got more bang for are buck back in the 70's and early 80's.Just a Thought.
vinowino
53 posts
 
I am constantly amazed at the ridiculous low hours quoted by many.
I had a Grado Wood Reference on my last turntable. I spent a lot of time searching about it before I bought.
The grado website said I can expect 5000 hours. I do not see any reason why this should not be the case.
If the record has been cleaned properly (I mean wet and vacuum, not wiped with cloth) and the tracking weight is accurate why would it wear? Diamond is hard.
I would not buy a cartridge if I was told to expect 500-1000 hours only.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,243 posts
 
Impossible to say. Too many variables. Mine lasted 15 years. You either use it until it sounds bad, breaks or you see stylus wear under magnification.
zavato's avatar
zavato
1,391 posts
 
Cartridge life can be considerable- my Linn Arkiv B, which I bought in the early 2000's, and gets maybe an hour or 2 playing time a week, is still going strong. 
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