Stylus wear

^ I change my stylus about once a year and so far have not had any problems with sound or LP wearing.

Thanks guys. I'd read somewhere that if the sound was distorting, assuming it wasn't a pressing problem that it was a sign of a worn stylus but I guess if you wait until then the damage is done to your records.

Nightfly wrote: Thanks guys. I'd read somewhere that if the sound was distorting, assuming it wasn't a pressing problem that it was a sign of a worn stylus but I guess if you wait until then the damage is done to your records. If you're averaging 1200 - 1500 hours play time then I'll be nowhere near that yet as although I am buying more vinyl these days I have gone weeks without using my deck if I've mainly been playing Cd's. I'm anticipating it'll be getting more use in the future though. My cartidge by the way is a Goldring 1012 GX (stylus replacements approx £150) and it was set up by the dealer many years ago but I guess it could move slightly, though it looks pretty well lined up to the naked eye. I beleive there is a special tool required to check it and set it up accurately?

Might I suggest a Close N' Play?

Catcher10 wrote: Nightfly wrote: Thanks guys. I'd read somewhere that if the sound was distorting, assuming it wasn't a pressing problem that it was a sign of a worn stylus but I guess if you wait until then the damage is done to your records. If you're averaging 1200 - 1500 hours play time then I'll be nowhere near that yet as although I am buying more vinyl these days I have gone weeks without using my deck if I've mainly been playing Cd's. I'm anticipating it'll be getting more use in the future though. My cartidge by the way is a Goldring 1012 GX (stylus replacements approx £150) and it was set up by the dealer many years ago but I guess it could move slightly, though it looks pretty well lined up to the naked eye. I beleive there is a special tool required to check it and set it up accurately? Ok that is a nice cartridge and I think uses a Gyger elliptical fine line stylus, so you should get about 1200 hours. You can check the alignment with a protractor designed for your particular tonearm setup, this to make sure your dealer set it up correctly. You can go to vinylengine.com and download a tonearm specific protractor or alignment tool and check it. You have to join the website but that is easy and free.... Find your tonearm and some other measurement details and you can print one.  Have fun!!

Ain't it just typical, got a new stylus 3 weeks ago and was playing a 7" single with a poor run off groove and it kept going onto the label. Luckily I got to it pretty quick and there doesn't appear to be any damage (I hope!). 

I have used SHURE´s top cartridges with Micro Ridge stylus for decades and I´m extremely pussy about accurate alignment of the stylus tip, VTF, VTA & azimuth . In my system a MM cartridge w/ Micro Ridge begins loose dynamics & detail after I have played 750 LP records (a little more or less). In other words, music becomes lame & uninspiring and I have no idea how long a MR tip actually will last but it just begins loose dynamics after certain point. Sad but true .

Catcher10 wrote: Nightfly wrote: Ain't it just typical, got a new stylus 3 weeks ago and was playing a 7" single with a poor run off groove and it kept going onto the label. Luckily I got to it pretty quick and there doesn't appear to be any damage (I hope!).  Can happen with 7" singles, but rarely will that cause any severe damage. What cartridge did you get?

My cartridge (a Lyra Lydian - cost £699 in 1996 and that was the budget model in the range!) has been in use since 1996 and has logged about 3000 hours. It's just showed signs that it's coming to its end.