Right now - not sure I will see the day again when I can drop $50-60 on a new LP record again. My two - 22 year old fraternal millennials are still draining me down faster than the world's oil supplies. I did not plan good for this. They have absolutely no sense of ownership, only know debt; and with the Greater Toronto Areas housing market going up 25 % a year they will never know home ownership here.
Was this bad info, myth, sales pitch or what? Do suspensions really wear out even when the cartridge is not being used very much?
John
So searches kept bringing up the Acura sports car then I found this.
AQ7000 NSX
Output: 0.3 mV
Tracks: 1.8g
Loads: 200 Ohms- 47 kOhms
Unloads: 10 Ohms
Compliance: 12
Weight: 11 g
Its a really nice cart. Since you asked; my two cents if I were in your shoes.
You have three options I can think of.
1) contact J Carr direct and ask for his opinion. maybe send it to him for inspection and possible tune up. this will probably take a long time
2) contact one of the Cart retippers/rebuilders in the US. Have them look it over. Of course due to age they will probably recommend something.
3) start using it on a select set of records till you can determine its real condition. Listen to them with your Lyra first then do the switch.
The chances of it being a time bomb is low due to who built it and you know its full history. But...... there were other reports on the internet of people losing the stylus.... 8^0
So with this info I would be inclined to put into use.
Then again I am not much of collector with carts as they are wear items - I see them like tires on my cars. If I am not using them, they are sold. I have maybe 5 carts remaining. A couple MC and 3 or 4 MM's.
How much would it cost to replace it with a like new cart today - that would help me to decide.
My two cents. hope it helps a little.
Chris