What devices have you found useful when inspecting your stylii for cleanliness?

@lewm 

"If your SQ is only CD-like, you have a way to go. Hi Rez streaming is a legit alternative to vinyl, but, IMO, high quality vinyl has it all over RBCD"

Yes, I agree I have a way to go!  So far, I have taken a quality 70 year old turntable and a 50 year old tone arm and had a first cut at getting them to play well.  I have not even got to fine-tuning the system. 

Unfortunately, at this point I have very few albums (hate that word) on both silver disk and vinyl that I can directly compare.  My comment on CD-like quality is based mainly on a new Decca (London) recording of Beethoven's triple concerto, where I only have the vinyl version.  If I ignore the faint surface noise and some idler-wheel rumble, I could believe a well-recorded CD was playing!  These days I mainly play high resolution classical SACDs which are in another league in my opinion.  I have another vinyl on order for direct comparison against SACD!

(I think classical music has been served better on CD than most other genres - what do you listen to?)

Dear @noromance  : I don't like to manipulate that often the cartridge suspension where any " thin " mistake and the suspension could goes out or with out been aware it could be weaked at each time and if we do it so often like you just can be aware of any damage till is " to late ".

In the other side the vry tip of the stylus tip is cleaned by it self tracking grooves if the LP are really clean and this is the first premise in that stylus tip cleans.

Only in the new LP the tip can been dirty but after 2-3 playing times everything goes normal. I'm not saying don't clean the stylus tip only do it not so often as each side.

The developed LP surface static mekes more harm to what we are listen it and we need an anti-static gun or the like to be safe down there because the dust threads comes from that static and this is the true dirt that makes the harm to the sound.

The stylus tip cleans always is a controversial issue and we post what we thing already fuctioned for each one of us.

@richardbrand  : "  sound quality is incredibly sensitive to tracking force and to dirt on the stylus.  "

Usually MM cartridges are high compliance ane if the cartridge suspension and the VTF is centered at the manufacturer VTF range " minute " VTF changes normally we can't listen its differences but in the other side been high compliance cartridges the VTF could makes that the VTA changes more easy that with medium/low compliance cartridges design. It's not easy for me to figure out what you are listening with those VTF changes and if your SME is spot on in its original specs and you not named the classical LPs where you listen those differences.

R.

@rauliruegas I have been pulling my table and arm apart several times a day while I fashion and fit plinth inserts made from 28-mm thick MDF with constrained damping layers in between. On one occasion the small sliding weight got shifted accidentally and the cartridge was tracking close to the old Shure’s recommended 1.2 grams rather than the 2.1 grams it should be. Audibly there was something horribly wrong! Similar thing if too much fluff gets caught by the stylus. There are more nasties if the very fine nylon line holding the anti-skating weight comes off its pulley, or gets itself wrapped around the wire holding the pulley.

As far as I can tell, the tone arm itself is in very good condition, except for some minor corrosion on the electrical connectors to the cartridge. By design, the sliding balance weight is only good for 0 to 1.5 grams so I twist the main weight using a digital scale to get into the ballpark before final adjustment with the sliding weight. There has been a lot of trial, and a lot of error! The classic error was using a small cable tie to fasten the motor cable to the transit mounting, which is spring loaded and well clear of the motor when the whole thing is upside down. Once the right way up, and hidden inside the plinth, the motor descended and got fouled by the cable tie!

The record that I mainly test with is an Accoustic Research demonstration disk, and I use a jazz track with trumpet, piano, bass and drums. An alternative is an Original Master Recording of Sir Adrian Boult conducting Elgar’s orchestral transcription of a Bach organ piece. Plenty of braying brass there! I have a couple of test disks - the "Ultimate Analogue Test LP" and a German equivalent. More vinyl is on its way including Hyperion’s Shostakovich Piano Concertos, which I already use as tests on SACD.

I really am having fun, and learning lots ...

Dear @rauliruegas . I hear you on the suspension issue with too much cleaning. That's why I included my Decca cartridges note. As you know, they don't have a cantilever as such and can take a beating more than a potentially sensitive moving coil. Nevertheless, I felt it statistically relevant to point out there is at least one of us cleaning per side. My records are clean, and it's more of a preventative habit than anything else. 

@richardbrand I inspect styluses with a loupe with a built-in LED light. I also use a digital otoscope with a probe if a screen view is needed.