A pragmatic view of cartridge expenses / many questions

@antinn 

Thank you for the detailed cost of ownership analysis. That is clearly the line of thought I was thinking as I tried to pose my question. Not many people are keen or know what Mean Time Before Failure Rate (MTBF) is. I had to be aware of MTBF for mass storage hard drives back in the early 90s working at the hospital. It’s a factor that is not highly publicized in many products anymore. You have to look at the individual components to get a glimpse of MTBF...such as processors operating within specs (temp, normal speed, etc.), or lasers as you stated, for example. 

I agree with you regarding the maintenance and upkeep costs, and the sound qualities of the Soundsmith cartridges. They do have a blend of musical exceptionalities that enlighten my listening senses. For that reason, I will probably stick with Soundsmith for a while. Nothing really to complain about. Of course, you know us audiophiles, if something were to fall into my lap and I had the means to test, I will always do that to squelch that curiosity. And, as with cars, we are in the Wheel and deal business....trade in or trade up when it suits you. What do you think about the Soundsmith Hyperion😀
Tires...Another great factory racing tire, believe it or not, was the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar which was standard on the Corvette C5 Z06. 
Happy listening. 

Ferrari used the Eagle F1 on several of its cars. Mussolini rolled in his grave. I believe Porsche has also but Ferdinand wouldn't give a hoot. 
Cactus spines? I suppose if Frank Schroder (he collects cacti) says so. 
I think MTBF in terms of cartridge expense involves to many uncontrollable variables to mean much other than MM cartridge are much less expensive to own over time. If you want real value get a Grado Prestige Gold. That will run you $0.25/hr or less 

“Ferrari used the Eagle F1 on several of its cars. Mussolini rolled in his grave. I believe Porsche has also but Ferdinand wouldn't give a hoot.” 😂 

The costs over time are what interest me as I approach retirement. I know with fixed income in retirement that I cannot splurge as much as I want compared to now. Have to research the Grado. 

What do “You” think of the cactus spine cartridge? 

Dear @audioquest4life  : "  Compared to the Sussaro, the Crimson is hyper analytical. "

Well, that speaks of the quality level performance of your room/system and what you like .

I said that because the vdH cartridges are not " hyper analytical " especially the wood body models and  with higher output level as the model you have.
 vdH are different than the Sussurro ( that I already listened. I don't listen the Sussaro you named. ) but never anlytical and " hiper " is out of question. Something is not rigth in your whole set up.

Obviously that unfortunatelly  the Colibri is not for you and I say " unfortunatelly " because is a great top quality performer in the rigth room/system overall set up.

@terry9  "  At this rate, I'll need one rebuild, maybe two in my lifetime, "

imagine if you own the Allaerts Formula One that according with the designer/manufacturer information can gives you 10K hours !



R.