Real world life expectancy of a high end cartridge?


While I know they’re supposed to last 1000 hours how many make it all that way?  

Question prompted by my brushing a knuckle on my AS Palladian this afternoon and trashing it ... lesson learned not to try tonearm adjustments without full access to the table (normally I move the table off the wall shelf to a more convenient location to make adjustments, but not this time 😬)

And doesn’t it just happen that the cost of a recipe/trade is exactly my deductible so even insurance is no help 😲

Anyway just needed to vent ... but anyone playing with these expensive baubles better be prepared to reup on a replacement at any moment 🤪
folkfreak
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Rather than relying on someone who obviously knows very little (if anything) about the products of The Last Factory, head over to the company’s website and have your questions answered. Neither Stylast nor Last Record Preservative (used by The Library of Congress to prevent the deterioration of their historical discs) contain any alcohol or other solvent, and certainly not Freon. That statement is absolutely false, and if I were Walter Davies (owner of the company, and one of the three chemists who developed their Patented products (ever tried getting a patent on Freon? ;-), why I’d.....

David Wilson did a study of Stylast when he was a reviewer at The Absolute Sound (he was at that time primarily a recording engineer and record company owner, very concerned with LP playback gear), measuring the improvement afforded by Stylast. His findings were published in Issue 32, the measurements validating the improvement in LP sound provided by Stylast as reported by Tam Henderson in Issue 20.

Last Record Preservative and Stylast reduce wear to both the vinyl of LP’s and the diamond of stylii. Neither contains Freon, alcohol, or any other solvent. Stylast not only doesn’t in anyway harm the elastomer suspension of cartridges, the Stylast fluid that makes it’s way up to that suspension is absorbed into the rubber, keeping it from drying out. Davies reports the use of Stylast can prolong the life of a diamond stylus by a factor of ten. Last Record Preservative is just as effective at reducing wear of LP vinyl.

The analysis in the link below is most interesting. Empirical data and research is the best to get to the truth of matters. I have a partial bottle of Stylast but not used it in years; will start using what I have left.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/stylast-stylus-treatment-no-placebo-here.771618/

On the other hand, see the * review on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/LAST-PRODUCTS-ST-Last-Treatment/dp/B004N8O8HQ/ref=pd_bxgy_201_img_3/136-20208...

Has anyone else experienced what he experienced?
Probably a good idea if I check what I use BEFORE posting not after... Doh.

I am and have been using Lyra SPT not Last products for my stylus treatment.

I DO use Last for tape head treatment though.
From the LAST instructions!

1) brush the stylus diamond before side one
2) apply Stylus Cleaner #4
3) brush the stylus diamond
4) apply Sylast Preservative #5
6 play side one
7) brush the stylus diamond
8) apply Stylast Preservative #5
9) play side two
10 repeat with next Lp

Without using Stylus Cleaner #4 and Stylast Preservative #5 together, you will not get the longest stylus life!