@mijostyn A while back I had started a thread about how to go about acquiring an expensive cartridge given the lack of ability to demo the cartridge before committing to a purchase. There seemed to be little consensus as to how this could be accomplished, and a number of issues were brought to light.
Chief among them was the fact that no dealer would be happy to have you demo a mega $$ cartridge, put use on the stylus, possibly damage the cartridge while doing the set up and then request a return. This made good sense.
Now here's the thing, I was lucky enough to have a dealer local to me ( and of course whom I had supported in the past), let me do a demo before committing to purchase of the cartridge under consideration. This did lead me to a purchase, but it also gave me a very nice comfort level with my selection. Nonetheless, the number of dealers who will allow such a thing must be extremely limited, you will pay the dealer price and not some significant discount..and you will have had to have supported the dealer in the past. I think buying a mega $$ cartridge is a risk that is difficult to off-set.
One thing that was suggested on my thread was for dealers to have demo cartridges on hand to mount on customers arms for a demo period, a small fee to be paid for this service and in the event of purchase, a credit towards said purchase. This is the best suggestion that I think was given...to off-set the risk, BUT it also means higher dealer margins and higher middle man margins to off-set the cost of the demo cartridge. Could be worth it...