Anyone else having trouble getting cartridges back they sent for repair?

Finding (replaceable) stylus is , in my opinion, better

option.

Yes, that was the point I was trying to make. I think we agree.  It used to be pretty much all cartridges of all types had replaceable styli years ago during the "golden age".

Chak,

Sorry to hear that. I have not attempted to replace a stylus for many years so I am not up on those things. But its a disappointment to me that things are they way they are in regards to keeping phono carts running well especially since stylus wear is normal and nothing new. That’s why things used to be the way they were.

I guess its like owning a luxury car. TCO is much higher, not just the selling price. Except timely good service is part of the deal.

I guess high end phono carts are a very niche thing in comparison these days so it is what it is.

But people should know these things before drinking the high end vinyl kool aid these days to avoid regret perhaps later with certain more esoteric carts that will be hard to replace or get serviced when inevitably needed.

When my Denon DL103R goes up finally one day, I will simply just replace it with another.

.

Cleeds,

Thanks for that info. I knew the stylus replacement train jumped the tracks at some point. But at least with the Denon DL103R performance is high and cost to replace is not horrible.

I guess being an older guy who remembers how things were back in the day does not help. I helped hundreds of customers replace their styli back then for very nominal cost. MC carts were still quite rare back then. Times change.

Are there any companies these days that feature great sounding carts with reasonable cost for user to replace the stylus easily themselves? That’s something that would appeal to me next time I am in the market for a phono cart.