Analog Experts: how does my stylus look?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by TerpStation, Dec 5, 2019.

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  1. TerpStation

    TerpStation "Music's not for everyone." Thread Starter

    Location:
    DC Metro
    I have had this one for over 1.5 years, have no idea how many hours on it. Have been noticing less detail in my vinyl playback recently.....but that kind of thing can just be in one's head.... Can you tell from these photos if this stylus needs replacement or whether in good health or do i need to get a closer picture? Its a Hana Slmc.

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  2. 12" 45rpm

    12" 45rpm Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    I am no expert, but these pictures can't conclude anything. You need some special kind of microscopic to see the wear..
     
    Helom and Leonthepro like this.
  3. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Yeah, you need a specialized rig, and the wear is simply little shiny patches on the diamond as viewed from above. Loss of detail is not a common complaint, but distortion is usually the audio clue.
     
    Leonthepro likes this.
  4. The Dragon

    The Dragon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, AL
    No way to tell from a photo. It takes a stylus inspection microscope with the correct lighting to show the flat spots worn into the contact patches on the diamond. You have to position the diamond with the tip facing up with lights at 45 degrees on both sides shining light directly onto the contact areas. The flat spots will reflect the light and show as visible wear. Shure manufactured a specialized microscope for this. I have seen others make home rigs that will accomplish the same thing. If you are worried about it, just replace it. There is really no other way to tell. By the time you start to hear distortion, it is probably already causing record damage. (YMMV)
     
  5. TerpStation

    TerpStation "Music's not for everyone." Thread Starter

    Location:
    DC Metro
    Thanks much for looking guys. A few closer ones, but very hard to focus.....perhaps its time to get a new one...?

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  6. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
  7. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Impossible to tell, but if you play about 2 records a day then you should replace your stylus every year or so if its a fine type of line contact profile. If its Elliptical or Conical, every 6 months.
    And yeah, loss of detail? Thats just vague and non correlated with stylus wear.
     
  8. bru87tr

    bru87tr 80’s rule

    Location:
    MA
    Easy, let your ears tell you.
     
  9. BrilliantBob

    BrilliantBob Select, process, CTRL+c, CTRL+z, ALT+v

    Location:
    Romania
    How often do you clean the stylus? The HANA SL MC has a long-wearing Shibata nude diamond stylus, which should net an easy 2,000 hours of listening on clean, well cared for LPs.
     
    plastico likes this.
  10. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Not if you care about your records it wont.
     
    Dennis Metz likes this.
  11. TerpStation

    TerpStation "Music's not for everyone." Thread Starter

    Location:
    DC Metro
    Thanks for the input. Regarding "loss of detail" not being correlated with stylus wear... that is good news i supposed..What are the audible signs of early stylus wear?
     
    Leonthepro likes this.
  12. TerpStation

    TerpStation "Music's not for everyone." Thread Starter

    Location:
    DC Metro
    I clean it every few records.....
     
    bru87tr likes this.
  13. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    That seems really high to me...you’d hear audible distortion at half that I bet.
     
    uzn007 likes this.
  14. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    At roughly 400 to 500 hours a 15KHZ tone will distort around 3% for a Shibata stylus. Is this audible? It depends on the listener. Some refuse to hear distortions that are well above standards so what should one do? Replace the stylus at this threshold of wear is what cart manufacturers suggest and it makes sense. If you wait long enough to hear problems you have likely already done unnecessary damage to some groove passages.
    For the general listener, it takes around a year to get up to 500 hours, but to be sure its best to just have system of counting record sides played. There are tons of simple phone apps or small devices one can easily acquire.
     
  15. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    I tape a piece of paper to the side of my stereo cabinet.
     
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  16. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    I could imagine some sort of mild groove distortion sounding like "loss of detail", but I agree that this is a vague description.

    As @bru87tr said, though, just use your ears. The best piece of advice I got on a similar thread was "if it sounds like you need to replace your stylus, you should probably just replace your stylus." I was noticing distortion at 700 hours on an Ortofon Super OM10.
     
    bru87tr likes this.
  17. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    I agree that when people often ask the question of, should I replace my stylus? the answer should be pretty evident. I mean you are going to replace it at some point anyway, why not just buy one now and test it against the old. Theres no reason not to unless you are wanting to upgrade at the same time.
    Im not a supporter of listening though, as previously mentioned people dont all hear equally and especially if its your first time with a cart you will likely only hear distortions caused by wear after its already been distorting for a long time.
    Theres nothing special about any stylus lifetime, they are all diamonds. We dont have some that begin to distort after 5 hours or 50000 hours, its all roughly the same given equal shapes, so its better to just follow the wear standard.
     
    bru87tr likes this.
  18. bru87tr

    bru87tr 80’s rule

    Location:
    MA
    Thats what I do, spares help to figure out what you are hearing.
     
    Leonthepro likes this.
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