How to choose a cartridge you can't hear on your system?

@daveyf

Chakster, if you enjoy an old cartridge that is more than likely destroying your vinyl, so be it. Cartridges are a wear item, plain and simple. Like Clearthinks stated, just one play can easily damage the groove if the cartridge is badly worn.

I don’t buy worn cartridges, anyone has an ears to compare worn cartridges to a brand new reference or new old stock (sealed) you opened by yourself with zero hrs of use. The worn cartridge does not sound right from the start and must be avoided! Anyone can measure the compliance of the cartridge by using test record, this will give you the idea about condition of the damper (to make sure it’s not dried up). When you put the needle on the record you can visually make conclussion about the damper (condition). Anyone can send vintage cartridge for inspection to SoundSmith or use the microscope. Audiophiles who sells vintage cartridges got many of them in rotation and the actual usage of each of them are very low, the rare cartridges comes from private collections.

If you will think about those used vintage vinyl records that are still superior to most of the new re-issues you will understand that something made 40-50 years ago can easily surpass your new stuff, just because it was made better. Even the fact that most of those old vinyl have been played with average cartridges, does not make them inferior for some reason. Just think about it. My vintage vinyl recorded much better than new vinyl (most of them). Should i mention an old tubes and why they are superior to the new tubes (this is another story).

A vintage cartridge..dried up and with a worn stylus is just asking for trouble. Unless that is you have a small LP collection of little value and like to play DJ, then who cares-- LOL. All IMHO.

You have never tried a good vintage cartridge, so what can you say? If you’re afraid to do so just don’t do that, and stick to the expensive new stuff, that you can’t even audition before you will pay for them, and if you don’t like them you can not sell it for the same price again. So the cost of your mistakes are high, hope it’s fine for you.

My collection is definitely not the biggest, but i prefer quality over quantity. As i said earlier i prefer the originals, so the value of my collection is not low at all, you may be shocked by the price of some of my original pressings. Do you want to continue to explain me the basics?

Ignore my opinion, but just read what other people think about vintage MM cartridges and their quality compared to some overpriced MC carts: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/who-needs-a-mm-cartridge-type-when-we-have-mc

Your own opinion sounds like: "I never tried it, but i don’t like it"

As for the DJing i will tell you about David Mancuso (RIP) who dj’ed with a pair of Koetsu cartridges and FR64 tonearms since the 70s in NYC, but he just played one record next to another on very well isolated platforms for his Technics SP-10 Mk2 on the special base made by Mitchell A. Cotter. If you will looks at the set-up at NYC Paradase Garage club (1977 - 1987) you will see the Infinity Black Widow low mass tonearms on Thorens turntables, and high compliance Stanton MM cartridges. That oldschool DJ set-up is better than many audiophiles set-up today. Those Stanton, especially the 981HZS, are amazing cartridges, believe it or not. After that maybe you will stop joking about real DJing?