Are 500 hours too many for a used hi-end cartridge?

@chakster, I didn’t know I could fit a better stylus on the Red. How is that listed? Do I simply search for a replacement stylus for that cartridge and choose from among those listed?

@bob540

Blue and Silver styli are direct replacement for Red and recommended by Ortofon.

If you want to experiment you could also try much better profiles like Bronze (Nude FineLine) and Black (Nude Shibata), read more. Those are not recommended by Ortofon for Red, but if you will look at the specs and will read advanced users comments online you will find out that they may be compatible too ?

Lots of interesting thoughts, and few entertaining ones. (Like now I have  to catalog the cost ratios of all my components to see if they meet the audiophile acceptable standards.)
Seriously, this thread has convinced me to buy new - and from a brick and mortar dealer.  We have several in my neck of the woods.

Thanks all.

Smart move!

If in the $1K price range its hard to go wrong with an Audio Technica ART9. You might also find a discounted price on an Ortofon Cadenza Red. Folks seem to like the Hana cartridges also. 

Buying used cartridges is akin to buying used record albums. You must be careful and screen both the cartridge and the seller IMO. What does the stylus look like under magnification? Does the seller have good vinyl practices? 500 hrs is on the cusp of what I would look at and obviously should be priced accordingly. Unless it is a particular cartridge priced very good, I'd probably wait for another with less hours. Depends on how common the cartridge for sale is...how often does it come up for sale?

I have bought & sold used cartridges. I kept track of how many hrs on the used ones I sold. Biggest surprise is how slowly the hrs accumulate. The last one I sold (Ebony L) had 300 hrs on it after years of play. My guess before the final tally would have been at least 500. I listen quite often....sometimes daily. I play 90% of my music via TT. So I’m not a light user.

It used to be said that most audiophiles were honest to a fault. Maybe I’m a fool for not believing that everyone is a no good scalawag who’d steal the candy from a laughing Baby’s mouth like the majority here seem to believe. But the Zyx cartridge I bought sounds really good. And it helps me forget that the world full of nerdowells & thieves (-: