long lasting cart

You need a cartridge with the best stylus profiles like:

MicroRidge
MicroLine
Fritz Gyger
VdH
Replicant 100
S.A.S.
Stereohedron
LineContact
Shibata
Vital III

This list can be bigger, but you get the idea, what you have to avoid is Conical and Elliptical

Advanced profiles like MicroRidge can be used for more than 2000 hrs, your Nagaoka MP200 has Elliptical tip and it can be used for 600 hrs.

Does the quality of the diamond used affect stylus life? I’m assuming for expensive cartridges might last longer. Is this true? BTW, how many hours will the Ortofon 2m Blue nude-elliptical stylus last?

@mjcmt Please read again what i said, Elliptical stylus is the worst, just next step after Conical, even if the diamond is Nude and Very Well Polished. There are so many better diamond profiles after elliptical to upgrade the sound and lifespan of the stylus. So Elliptical is just starting point, your cheapest ticket to high-end sound.

It is very well explained by JICO about their SAS profile here

Nude Elliptical stylus must be replaced after 600hrs of use
MicroRidge stylus must be replaced after 2000 hrs of use

Feel the difference.

But the key point is not just a life span, but more important accuracy in sound, better detail retrieval and less distortion. 

You can also look at the stylus under microscope to realize that Micro Ridge or MicroLine profile is completely different in comparison to the simple Elliptical profile.

While the MicroRidge is the most expensive profile you will be fine with Shibata or Stereohedron (nowadays called Paratrace).  

Chakster, I understood what you said in your first post. Just wondering if my 2m Blue has the same roughly 600 hour life expectancy. Thanks.