How long do a cartridge and stylus last?

It just starts to not be as clear as it once was , the clarity all across it just starts to get muddy & when you get a new stylus it's like you took a chunk of dust off the needle .

 

Most manufacturers suggest around the 1000 hour mark, but also the suspension will loose its flexibility over the years and dust get in the coils (M/C) This is why cheap re-tips is not a good idea.

Oggy.

 

There is no rule. If I were a manufacturer, I would have no control over the cleanliness of the consumers' records, nor alignment, and tracking force errors, so I would err on the conservative side. Most recommendations are in the 800 to 1000 hour window.

But that's a very conservative number IMO. If the records are clean, then stylus life is extended.
I still have two Grado cartridges from the 70's with original elliptical tips, still good, and countless hours on them, thousands of hours. These were professionally checked in the late 80's at Sound Odessey in Wappingers Falls, who could have sold me a new stylus.. the comment was "yours is the cleanest (customer) stylus we've ever inspected, it has a normal wear pattern, no need for replacement". I have since retired them, and do pull them out of the box now and then. They perform just as nicely as ever. To state a (diamond) stylus can last for thousands of hours is not unreasonable.

The type of stylus factors in, conical, elliptical, or line contact. The conicals have the shortest life span, since even the slightest rounding off, or flat spot results in audible loss of detail and distortion. The elliptical has a more desired wear pattern, inherent of its shape, so loss of detail isn't as pronounced, if audible at all, but eventually a flat spot may develop, perhaps after many thousands of hours of use. Although I have never found via inspection, a used elliptical with a chiseled tip. The line contact does not lose any detail over the course of its life, or not supposed to.. but dangerous to use near the end of its life span.

Has anyone ever worn out a line contact stylus?

 

I've retired several. The local shop will pretend to inspect, but they don't have the tools. I don't know if I attribute degredation in sound to flat spots or difficutly in cleaning and baked on build-up on the back side of the needle. I could put 3,000 hours on in a year. I've noted ellipticals do start to sound poorer after about 700 hrs or so. I do take in used records, so a stylus on my table may take more abuse.

 

I use a counter to keep track of number of sides I play. Approximating it to 3 sides an hour, I figure 3000 sides (about 1000 hours) is about the good life but I'd trust my ears before and after this. If I calculated cost per side, I'd probably give up on vinyl but the reality is, I rarely get that many clicks racked up on an cartridge before I move on. Mostly this has resulted from some other factor (nice way of saying accidental damage) but sometimes I've had a cartridge for 2-3 years and just wanted to upgrade. While I listen to vinyl more now than any time in the last decade, I still find I only listen to less than 1000 sides in a year, which sounds lower than the rate I imagine I am listening but the clicker does not lie. All records are washed, stylus regularly cleaned, alignment checked etc and sound quality matters to me. I can't remember the last time I wore a stylus out.

 

And sadly, most new to buying vinyl now don't understand that fact.

 

That is an interesting question, when people say worn out, do they mean re-groove records worn out or not sounding as good as it used to worn out?

The later is really hard to tell as it happens so gradually that only in comparison with a newer one will you hear the difference. I guess the best analogy is like the suspension on your car, you know it's got a bit soggy, but shocked when you change the ahem, shocks!

There are so many variables with cartridge wear, such as the tonearm / bearings, but somewhere around 1000 hours is typical. You certainly don't want to hear distortion and tracking problems before replacing.

Oggy.

 

Getting a clicker is a good idea, as mentioned. You still need to arrive at an estimate of average time per side, but still, keeping track gives a backup to perception.

Also, always go over the table top to bottom if you think it is sounding a bit wooly.

I'm beyond 500 hours on my second cart this year. I was starting to detect a less than smooth presentation, so I got up and pulled the table apart. A close listen with my ear an inch from the spindle detected a little motor noise. I pulled the platter and sub platter and cleaned a bit of pet hair from the pulley shaft and sub platter shaft. I also cleaned the pulley and sub platter surface, which were unusually dirty as the belt had started to decompose a bit and left a patina on both.

Sounds much better now.

 

Id say if your records are clean and mainly EX condition, id say about 1,000 hours personally or maybe about 3 years. I wouldnt keen on using it for much longer though...

EDIT: using a clicker or something seems like overkill. Just work out your average hours per week then work it from there. I have worked out mine to last about 3 years playing about 5-6 lps per week

 

Well, the clicker cost me $10 or so from Amazon and it sits beside my table, I just push it as I change sides in an almost automatic fashion now. I find my own estimates of playing over many years are probably not quite as accurate as I imagined now that I have real data points. I think to work out average hours per week reliably, you probably need notes or a system anyhow, my memory of what I played a couple of days ago is already foggy

 

The clicker sounds like an excellent idea to me and relative to the cost of a cartridge and records, very cheap. I can honestly say in my intense record playing days, I wouldn't have a clue how many hours use the cartridge had put it, but I reckon that I would probably under estimate.

In my retail days a customer had a moving coil cartridge go off early in its life, the customer kept track, (sorry!) 0f playing hours and I used this information to persuade the manufacturer to replace the cartridge.

Oggy.

 

I think my local hifi guy mentioned 1,500-2,000 on the Dynavector carts that I've used before they wear out. I replaced my 10x5 after about 3 years and 1,500 hours. I'm at about the same place right now on my 20x2L and suspect I will need to replace soon. Just listened yesterday and everything sounded great.

 

The carts I use are in the $1,000 range. I cannot see myself replacing them every 1,000 hours if there isn't a reason to. I've had no issues with my vinyl and playback changing carts put every few years. I'm guessing the most use I've gone is about 2k hours. I recall the Shure replacement stylus was very reasonvle in price (back in 2002). I'm sure the Jico replacments (since Shure stopped making them) are reasonable as well. Peace of mind rules.....

 

As far as wear on the stylus is concerned, there is a pretty big range of hours played before wear requires replacement. A lot depends on the quality of the diamond (natural diamond has superior structure and wears better than synthetic, and high grade diamonds are better than lower grades), the shape of the stylus (line contact styli tend to last longer because of the long vertical contact patch and if the diamond is properly oriented, the forces on the diamond are applied at the point and in the direction where the diamond is best able to resist wear), and other user-based factors such as the cleanliness of the records being played. There is a FAQ on the Van Den Hul site that claims that styli should be seriously examined at 1,000 hours, and would probably need replacement at that time if they are not the special types (i.e., there own line contact stylus) that better resist wear. They claim their stylus are good for 3,000 hours (8,000 playing sides). Their FAQ is in a PDF file that can be found here (go to question 16):

http://www.vandenhul.com/faq/general/phono-cartridges-faqs

 

Sounds about right to me, although with a highly resolving system you can hear the stylus start to degrade prior to that, usually 300 to 400 hours.

 

To say something sounds the same as it did in 1978 is suspect, nobodies memory is that good.

 

Sad, but true.

 

Interesting posts. I just bought a Ortofon super om mm cart. Here's what Ortofon recommends in their literature:

3 lps per day...replace stylus after 9 mths.
2 lps per day ....1 year
1 lps per day ....2 years.

Of course the manufacturer will err on the replace more often side so I'll take what they say with a grain.

 

Were talking here about 700 hours for 3 LP,s a dsy.
Seems about right!

 

Around 18-24 months, it is time to reorder a replacement from Jico...

 

Any thoughts on when to change out my mc denon dl 103? I bought it a while back and don't remember if denon made any replacement recommendation.

 

Recording vinyl to CD-rec I ALWAYS USE A NEW NEEDLE ESPECIALLY FOR THAT PURPOSE.

When in doubt about SQ listen to the spare needle, if everything sounds pristine again then your old needle is worn out. Dont believe all babbles about life expectancy of needles, use your own ears. 1000 hours is a fairytale, at least that is my experience.

 

It's likely the suspension will deteriorate before a diamond suffers excessive wear. I tend to retire cartridges around 800 hours or 3/4 years (guess work) which means I now have a few usable spares.

 

My ceramic stylus' last a very long time!

 

Back in the day when I used reasonably priced MM cartridges, such as the V-15 V, I got around 300 hrs. of use before degradation became too severe to ignore (slight mis-tracking on loud sibilants). But, with higher priced MC, I get MUCH longer life.; 2,000 hrs. is obtainable. This is probably the result of using better quality diamonds (natural, not synthetic), using line-contact shape of stylus, and properly orienting the diamond (based on its crystalline structure) to maximize hardness at the contact points with the groove.