Difference between micro line and gyger s stylus

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for taking the time to give such an in-depth response and helping me as well as others understand this better.

Please forgive my ignorance, but when you mentioned records made of "molded styene", how do you know when one is made of such substance?

Thank you also to Larryi and Dave for sharing your comments as well.

Don

Arnold: I've had the same sad experiences as you, and I've also had inquiries from customers asking about the suitability of our cartridges for use with polystyrene records. I have therefore looked into the matter in some detail.

But I don't use Gyger stylii in production, and my hand-on experience with stylii with side radii in the 5~6um range is not as extensive as side radii in the 2.5~3um range. I _believe_ that 5~6um is large enough for molded styrene records, but perhaps larger side radii are more suitable. If other Audiogoners have experiences with Gyger stylii (or other stylii with side radii in the 5~6um range) on styrene records, I would very much appreciate hearing about those experiences.

Don, AFAIR, molded styrene was used primarily by Columbia Records for doughnut 45rpm singles which were manufactured in the mid-60s. If any one else can add to this information or correct it if it is wrong, I would appreciate it.

best to all, jonathan carr

The "donut" 45's I'm referring to were mainly made in the 80's. They were more like hard plastic than soft vinyl. RCA, A&M, Columbia/epic/CBS, Casablanca, and a few other labels used it. The needle would litteraly tear up the record as it played. You could lift the tone arm up and see the build up of gunk on the stylus and white residue on the 45. Different cartridges would damage them while others would not.

Thank you, Arnold. AFAIR, the styrene records that I handled were from an earlier time than yours, so it is good to know that there are more labels and time periods to watch out for. FWIW, I believe that molded styrene was used to save production costs.

I wonder if there is a URL which discusses these styrene records at length (labels, time periods, artists etc.) It would also be interesting to know if all styrene records behave in pretty much the same manner (regardless of production era or label), or some can better withstand a small side-radius stylus than others.

Records turning white as they are played is not a pretty sight!

regards, jonathan carr

Hi Jcarr,

I found some information about styrene and issues with shredding them and which types of carts do not and the stylus they use:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-80334-p-4.html

A-L