When to change a cartridge?
I currently own an EMT HD006 cartridge that cost about $1900. That's as much as I've ever paid for a cartridge. Previously I was in thousand-dollar territory. I can't imagine spending $5K for something that's assured to wear out. I play my turntable (VPI Prime Signature 21) every day for at least a few hourse. I guage that I put about a thousand hours a year on my cartridge, which is now at about 1500 hours.
I have read forums in which people talk about putting their cartridge under a microscope every few months. I don't own a microscope and I wouldn't know what to look for if I did. After reading forums in which people talk about cartridges wearing out before the manufacturer's recommended hours, I began to hear my cartridge slowly declining. I thought perhaps the attacks weren't as crisp.
I called my online dealer to discuss replacing mine, telling him that I thought I heard deterioration in the cartridge's sound. He said it doesn't work that way. I will know when my cartridge is ready to be changed. It will not be subtle. Often the suspension collapses.
My reaction was that a dealer wouldn't talk me out of spending about $2K unless that expense was foolish. So, I am still playing my EMT HD006 and not worrying about subtle changes as it wears down. The dealer said it might be fine for up to 3,000 hours.
I'm curious to know what other people do about their cartridges. Wait for the suspension to collapse and the thing sounds terrible, or monitor it more closely and perhaps even change the cartridge before the manufacturer's recommendation?
P.S. FWIW, this is what I use to keep track of stylus/cartridge play hours: StylusTimer (Stylus Timer) | LP GEAR All you have to do is get into the habit of remembering when to turn it on and off. Even so, a few seconds or minutes missed, here & there, isn't going to be a big deal. |
Viridian, thank you for the in-depth article on stylus wear. There are a lot of variables involved, but one that is important to me is $ per hour a stylus costs, and also what my ear is hearing. The article mentioned female vocalists and how sibilance can be heard from a worn stylus. I played Joni Mitchell's live album "Miles of Ailes" this morning and my God her voice just hung in the air clear and pure. This is on a super fine line stylus with about 1500 hours on it. Am I damaging records? I can't really hear it. So, does it kind of become a tree falling in the forest thing? I have put an awful lot of money into my system lately, and a very big variable is a grouchy wife. She very much wants to believe the salesperson who told me the change wouldn't be subtle when I needed to replace my stylus. I started this forum to try to understand better when I would need to change my stylus with all variables considered. I have forty-year-old records and older. I have played them on pretty cheap cartridges I never changed. I have only begun to pay attention to that in the last ten years or so. Do I hear wear on my old records. Yes. Do I hear wear on all my old records? No. I really don't hear the wear on some of them. I do get pops and clicks that I hear, but I find that cleaning records in my Degritter gets rid of a lot of them. The grooves are picking up gunk the Degritter cleans out. Back to the money, which is an important variable. If I can't hear change, does it matter? I'll give you an example. When I buy a new cartridge do my newer records sound better? In other words, could I hear the damage on my old cartridge? The last cartridge I changed was a Sumiko Starling which I would have bought again but it's too difficult to mount. The pins are small and the wire leads slip off. It began to sound distorted like it had dust on it at around 2,000 hours. And it could have damaged records, but when I put the new EMT on those records, they didn't sound damaged to me. Judging subjectively, the variables are ridiculous. I have old records that never seem to wear. The newer 180gram records seem to wear quickly. I think the vinyl is softer on those records. They sound worn after maybe even five plays with a new cartridge. I know it sounds stupid or ignorant to put my subjective judgement up against in-depth studies, but from a money-per-hour perspective, I wouldn't want to buy a $2,000 cartridge and have to change the stylus after 500 hours. I'd probably stop playing records. So, I need to take that into consideration. And I'm looking for a kind of middle ground that also sounds reasonable to my pocket book. So, as far as the record wear variable, does it matterr if I can't hear it? Again, I'm thinking in dollars. If I had the money and an audiophile wife, I would happily change my stylus after 500 hours, but that's not my real world. |
I can’t say for certain but Soundsmith may be able to retip your cartridge and it’s worth a call or email. That’s if, of course, you think it’s needed. That would be considerably cheaper than a new cartridge. I am not sure I would replace a cartridge after 500 hours but I might repair/replace the stylus. |
Audio-B-dog, I take no issue with any decisions that folks make and apologies if I gave the impression that I felt differently. As I said what many consider the end of life is a somewhat arbitrary demarcation. And I was quick to point to the disparity of information given by participants in this thread. And that’s kind of it. Opinions are often repeated without a firm grasp of the very minimal scientific data available on the topic. And it really is perplexing how little data is available considering the billions of records that have been pressed. I am only participating because I have studied the topic at length and some may find the information of value. But we all pay our money, and make our decisions. Exactly as it should be. Knowledge is, however, power. Old audiophile, I think that the Microline and it’s analogs, Microridge, etc. are a very special case. Because the groove wall is contacted by two wings, it really does not flat spot, and retains it’s shape more, or less, throughout it’s life. Which probably ends when it starts contacting the bottom of the groove, rather than when the contact surfaces are no longer usable. IMHO, this shape is going to last quite a bit longer than others, and the data in the article that I linked was collected mostly before the invention of this shape. Oh, and I have the Stylus Timer and am such a dunce that I forget to use it. I ended up switching to numerical clickers off Amazon. I have one for each of my cartridges. Hey ya gotta find out what works for you.
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I am ignorant, so don't listen to me. Question is if you don't hear the difference can you still be damaging your records ? Of course, you damage the records each and every time you play them ! This is not a very sophisticated system. It's a matter of degree. Do you hear more noise? Having said that, I would think that 1500 hours is about time to change the stylus. I would. |
