How long should a cartridge last?

Mcmprov,

Brian, (the owner of the Analog Room), would have given you a partial credit for the cartridge if you had purchased it from him originally. I assume you did not, correct? (And he would have set up your cartridge on your turntable as a part of the service in selling you the cartridge.)

I base this on the fact that when he sold me my first cartridge, (Benz Micro Glider 2), about 7 years ago, he installed it on the tonearm, and did all the adjustments (i.e. he set the VTA, VTF, azimth, etc...) In fact, I had purchased my turntable used from a guy in NYC, (a Basis 1400, with a Rega RB 300 tonearm). When he found that out, he insisted that I bring in the entire setup, and he unpacked the boxes, assembled the table, and installed the tonearm, and then mounted the Glider. (All for the list price of the Glider - Not a bad deal, since I was an analog newbie at the time.)

And when the cartridge got damaged a few months later, (Don't ask!), he gave me partial credit, (50% I believe), toward a new cartridge. (And again, he insisted on installing the replacement cartridge.)

Good Luck!!!

The ones I have had done sound fine. Exactly the same as before? Doubtful, two new cartridges of the same model seldom sound exactly the same. But well worth the expense; there is a good chance that they will sound better than before but that is a separate question. I am an unusual dealer in that my orientation is toward the customer spending the LEAST amount of money for the sound he/she wants. Since I don't depend of it for my livelihood I can entertain such an attitude. If you still have the old one I would either advertise it on here as in as is condition for some else to buy and have repaired or do this myself to have on hand as a spare.

If you keep your records clean and set up properly, 4000 hours or more is possible. MM cartridges do have an advantage in that the stylus can be replaced, but i have a frog cartridge that my daughter is currently using that goes back to 2003 and i brought it used so i do not know the exact hours. It was used for 3 years as my primary cartridge before i got an airy3 and my daughter has used it for 3 years as her main. I checked the tip two weeks ago and the stylus is showing very little wear. Suspension still seems firm and the sound is still excellent.

I easily set up the VPI Scout by myself. When I tried to put a Graham Phantom on Aries, one problem I encountered..the Furutech tone arm cable could not fit very well into the hole in the plith...the 90 degree din was just too large. I think it was bumping against the plinth. I eventually adjusted it and got it to fit into these very tight quarters better. Anyway, not understanding this, I set the tracking force very high. The records kept skipping and I had thought the tracking force might be the problem. Ooopps. So, that might have shortened my cartridge life. I guess that might have been what happened.

cartridge set up is a major factor in cartridge life as well as record life. IMO, too high or too low on vtf will cause problems. i prefer to work on the light side on VTF because the universe responds so well to the lighter vtf. Also "dropping" the cartridge down on the record will stress the suspension.