Are 500 hours too many for a used hi-end cartridge?

@millercarbonI don’t understand why people waste their  time writing nonsense. And worse,  I end up wasting my time reading it. And then waste more time writing about it. 

Pertaining to my situation of being a “tight budget audiophile” (if there is such a thing): If one has an inexpensive turntable with the stock tonearm — in my case a Denon DP-300F with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge — does it make sense to put a more expensive, higher quality cartridge on that tonearm?

You can simply use better Ortofon stylus with your cartridge, you will have to replace stylus anyway so you can try better one on the same cartridge.

Modern cartridge like 2M Red is not better than most of the Vintage MM/MI cartridges you could use. For example an old inexpensive Ortofon M20FL Super with FineLine stylus is better than 2M Red and many others.

hi,
1.mostly not, i keep tracking of playing hrs of my Zyx and if i trust humans then somebody else does.
2.playing time is important, but if you use a cartridge over 30 years old then most likely the suspension would be questionable.
3. depends from tip profile, pedigree of cartridge and playing conditions
(LP's, weight, alignment....)

@chakster, I didn’t know I could fit a better stylus on the Red.  How is that listed?  Do I simply search for a replacement stylus for that cartridge and choose from among those listed?  

I would think a big issue with how these old records were played would be the heavier tracking force, that wouldn’t be adjustable on the cheaper record players back then.  Also, I didn’t hear about cleaning records until the early 70’s, when I got my first turntable and was reading about audio equipment.  I recall getting brand new records with a few pops mixed in (mostly just heard on quiet passages), which we thought was just part of the medium at the time.  And, of course, who thought of replacing a needle after so many hours of playing — those things lasted the life on the player, right!  😲

I have come across a few old records now that still sound muffled when I play them.  Do you think further cleaning would help, or are the grooves likely permanently damaged and no amount of cleaning would help?  Thanks for the info. 

Everybody says 500 hours how can you know it could be a big lie.I myself would never buy a used cartridge.Its a crap shoot!!