How and when to check stylus condition.

Peter Ledermann just finished the retip of my Zephyr cartridge. He said the stylus was approximately 80% worn, but for some reason that I do not understand, not in such a way that it damaged my vinyl. In any case, I should get my cartridge back in a few days. I'll report back on performance later.

Hi folks, reporting back on the retip. Short answer: dramatic improvement accross the board. You name the attribute, it sounds better.

Take away: DON'T trust your ears. The degradation in sound which occurs as a result of normal stylus wear is very subtle. In light of what I learned, I recommend checking the stylus every 1000 hours, unless something breaks. At least that was Peter's advice.

An aside: I drive all tube gear. Power tubes "supposedly" have a 2000 hour usefull life. Audio tubes have a 4 to 5000 hour life. It's almost impossible to keep track of tube and stylus life when I'm running so much gear. And this is even where my Ref 5 and PH-7 have hour meters. Any practical suggestions?

Buy a tube tester, and a microscope! Learn to use them both. BTW: A 200X scope would be barely adequate. 800X, much better( http://www.amazon.com/Microscope-Endoscope-Industrial-Biological-Inspection/dp/B005GJBDRO/ref=cm_wl_ce )

Bifwynne,
I change my "small" audio tubes, not necessarily the power tubes, every year and find it a BIG improvement each time I do. How do you like the Classic compared to the Scoutmaster?

Conical and elliptical tip: 300 hours
Microline-type tip: 500 hours
I change one a year on average.
I will never use MC carts again unless I'm wealthy; too expensive to replace all the time. Don't let your carts mis-track or get worn, it'll ruin your vinyl forever. Sometimes it's just the vocal sibilants that get shredded first, but you'll never get them back. 500 hours. Really. 1000 hours? Never.