A pragmatic view of cartridge expenses / many questions

@mijostyn,

Thanks for the insight. As a matter of fact, I do have two tonearms, SME Vs. They are mounted on a Transrotor Apollon and I do swap cartridge use between a Benz LPs, Soundsmith Sussaro MKIi and Benz Ruby Z. I just received a Van den Hul Crimson Stradivarius to demo. I am sending my Aesthetix IO Signature for an upgrade this winter to get the volume and dual phono inputs, and an Eclipse upgrade, which would make it easier to use both tonearms. I don’t get why higher price cartridges have to have such painful refurbished price policies as the costs to manufacture them are already absorbed in production. Granted, 24 karat gold windings and machined exotic materials are expensive, but, you already paid the price for admission. A cantilever and/or tip should not be that expensive. I guess they do serve an audience, of which I am not. That’s why I asked....the more reasonably priced cartridges have less price premium to refurbish. I know, it’s logarithmic with the price strategy of the high end cartridges...but again, we know that it’s unreasonable. For some, that’s not an issue. I do look for bargains in getting cartridges that go on sale or for ones I could trade in to get an upgrade. 
Essentially, owning records and being aware of cartridge wear go hand and hand with each other. The more you enjoy playing your music, the more use of cartridge, and voila, time to either factory retip or trade in. 
What’s a reasonable break even point in today’s cartridge market? Is there even such a thing? 
All good points, thank you. 

Speaking of Elvis, I found a few RCA Victor Victrolas for sale. They are autographed. Not sure if that correlates to Elvis having owned these or not, but he endorsed them. 

Pragmatic audiophile! What is that? I guess I just enjoy the ability to switch between different cartridges for different moods and music. This requires a turntable/tonearm that makes changing carts easy and a good universal protractor. A flexible phono pre-amp like the Pass XP-27 doesn’t hurt either! Currently switching between a Koetsu RSP, SoundSmith SussurroES, Ortofon A90 and a Lyra Etna SL. Lots of different flavors of excellence.

Dear @audioquest4life : " I just received a Van den Hul Crimson Stradivarius to demo. "

I owned at least 3-4 Colibri cartridges I still own one of them.

The Colibri is a great quality performer if you own the " rigth " phonolinepreamp.

I owned the Colibri with wood and polycarbonate cartridge body and with different output levels and the best ones are the Colibri not with wood body but polycarbonate one and the Colibri with 0.22mv output, the higher output are really a different cartridge.

I owned too not only a stone Koetsu’s but the RSP too and these Koetsu are low output too and needs tha " rigth " phonolinepreamp. Even the cartridges you own need it too. I owned the LP and the Ruby’s too.

I owned your SME V and mounted there several cartridges including top performance Lyra’s that starting with the Kleos to the Etna’s are really good ones.

Btw, maybe could be time that you think to own a different tonearm that can gives you more options of different carrtridges that the V because the Koetsu stone models is not a good match as other great cartridge options outhere as the Goldfinger and the like.
Maybe the new gimbal bearing Durand or the new VPI gimbaled or the Kuzma 4point can help you more than the V in the near future if you are looking for a new great cartridge.

R.

@rauliruegas, 

Thank for your feedback. It’s all relative but not going down another rabbit hole for tonearms. Been there done that. Kicked out dealers from my home in Germany bragging about this and that, and at the end of the day, It’s subjective. Your opinion is subjective to me because I know my equipment, my room, and have many differing listening experiences than you.  My phono stage can do 80db gain, not many can do that. 
Too me the VPI only edges the SME V due to its ability to adjust VTA easier. Note, I said easier. Anyone who owns and sets up SME tonearms knows how to make adequate VTA adjustments, it just takes time. The Kuzma 4 point we tested against a SME V on a Transrotor Turbillon. We all preferred the sound with the SME V and Koetsu Onyx on this system.  We swapped a Pass Labs with my own Aesthetix IO Signature, while different sounding, we all enjoyed the music the same. If you are finicky about tubes, stay away from tube products, that’s all. 
Back to cartridges, what’s your stance on cartridge purchases? Do you opt for more mainstream with good returns on investment? Meaning, your apt to shop around for cartridges with good price performance ratios which also allow for trading in, or up, and/or easily remanufactured by a factory? Ciao,
Audioquest4life