Replicant 100 stylus longevity - truth or myth?


There are some contradicting opinions on the net about the longevity of the Replicant 100 stylus. 1200 hours, 1000 hours, 800 hours, 600 hours...

I know there have been quite a few discussions in regards to this but I still can't seem to find anything really confirmative as to whether they last longer than that or not except for a couple of Ortofon claims. If there is anyhing I've missed, I'd be grateful if you could point it out to me.

Has anyone clocked more than 1500 hours on any of the Ortofons that use this stylus profile? Opinions?

Thanks!
128x128janhavjar
Great to have the input from an actual user!

i've owned 3 A90's, and now own an Anna.

i did compare one of my low hour A90's to a friends (a tonearm designer who plays his all the time) high hour one (well in excess of 1000 hours) and no difference in performance that we could hear. we did it so he could know that his was still ok to use as a reference.

Downunder and i have had this back and forth a couple of times on multiple forums. until he actually compares his 1200 hour A90 to a low hour one he/we won't know what is up.

all diamond stylus's wear at the same rate. the issue is that the wear is even, not that one shape wears less. if your cartridge is not aligned properly then un-even wear could reduce effective life.

the whole Replicant 100 wear 'buzz' is baloney....and partially a result of mis-leading info on the Ortofon website related to the fact that Ortofon makes cartridges at so many price points that they did a corporate CYA statement. some people picked up on it, connected the dots, and started the buzz.
Mike,

I own one A90 and have 3 Anna's on order :-) I also have a good old Ortofon MC70 that I have used regularly over the years it just recently started to show some signs of being old and tired so it has been put to pasture, it "used" to have a early form of the replicant stylus shape and have preformed wonderfully over the years - I bet +3000 hrs although I'm not that good at keeping track.

As always, good listening

Peter
This is Ortofon's official response on the life expectancy of the stylus http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?5679-new-cartridge-Ortofon-Anna-first-impressions&p=95316&viewfull=1#post95316