Shocked

[danilo]

Does the average person who plays records pay more than £50 for a cartridge?

Used to.. in My misspent youth.
No longer, as with care in selection, cheapo carts seem to Outdo ones (of Yore) that I paid significantly larger for.
I've No interest in fitting MC carts.. despite the awareness of them being more precise.. due to all the complexities associated.
Sloth are Us.. besides My Lps aren't worth the candle TBH.
Then there is the transition from listening to the Music to listening to the Sounds aspect to consider

[Beobloke]

I have recently been using my old turntable more and more, a Rotel RP-850 fitted with a Goldring 1020 cartridge both purchased in the late 80's and was shocked to see a replacement stylus would cost me £155, the complete cartridge only cost £49.

But to buy the modern version of the cartridge (the 1022GX) would cost you about £300, making the stylus just over half the cost of the cartridge.

Compare this to the Audio Technica AT-95E where the cartridge is £26 and the stylus £19, and the Goldring starts to look like quite good value!

[Arkless Electronics]

But to buy the modern version of the cartridge (the 1022GX) would cost you about £300, making the stylus just over half the cost of the cartridge.

Compare this to the Audio Technica AT-95E where the cartridge is £26 and the stylus £19, and the Goldring starts to look like quite good value!

Not to me! I well remember it being about £40!!

[Macca]

Back in about '94 I bought a Nagaoka MP30 for £70 brand new. Today will cost you £598.99 from Analogue Seduction.

Putting my 1994 seventy squid into an inflation calculator reveals that is £128.69 in today's quantatively eased cash. Okay so there is the exchange rate to consider too. But even so, something happened to the price of cartridges and it wasn't good.

[Arkless Electronics]

Back in about '94 I bought a Nagaoka MP30 for £70 brand new. Today will cost you £598.99 from Analogue Seduction.

Putting my 1994 seventy squid into an inflation calculator reveals that is £128.69 in today's quantatively eased cash. Okay so there is the exchange rate to consider too. But even so, something happened to the price of cartridges and it wasn't good.

Yes indeedy and thats putting it mildly Martin! I reckon that as digital has become the norm and demand for cartridges has plummeted the manufacturers have put up all the prices about 4-5 times to try and keep the same income level!
To those of us with long memories (OK old bastards ) paying maybe £500 for something you well recall being a budget to mid range cartridge ain't gonna happen... not me anyway!

I remember even the 1042 Goldring being about £65.. I shudder to think what they are now... and I didn't rate them that highly as a £65 cart!

[prestonchipfryer]

You could buy a really good MM cart in the late 70s/early 80s for £40-ish. Allowing for inflation that's about £130-140. Do the math(s).

[Macca]

Back in 1994 finding £70 for that new cart was a big ask. It was almost two day's wages for me. 22 years on £589 is more than I make in a week..

Bollocks, isn't it?

[walpurgis]

Back in about '94 I bought a Nagaoka MP30 for £70 brand new. Today will cost you £598.99 from Analogue Seduction.

That's more than you'd pay for a ZYX R50 Bloom H and I know which I'd rather have.

[Infinitely Baffled]

I don't believe that cleaning a record once with an RCM will double the stylus lifetime. It is just as important in my opinion, possibly more so, to inspect and clean the stylus regularly.

On the subject of stylus hygiene, does anyone have any experience of using one of Audio Technica's battery-powered stylus cleaning gadgets? I bought one - an AT 637 - back in the 80s, I think, when I was using a Linn K9, or Grado ZF1 cartridge. I used to use it fairly freely and no harm ever came from it as far as I know. Also I have to say, I don't know whether any good came from it either, since I would never have known whether I was listening to a worn stylus or not. Anyway, the years rolled by and I got more into hi-fi and bought better stuff on each occasion that replacement was required. I still have the AT 637, but now I look at it with great suspicion and fear, thinking "do I really want to sit my expensive boron cantilever and micro-line stylus on that screaming, vibrating pad?". The answer is "not really", and I haven't used it in years.

Does anybody have any thoughts or feelings (or even experience) about whether these devices are safe and effective, or whether they should be avoided like the plague? [Not completely sure, but I think the idea is that they work on an ultrasound-cleaning principle, rather an by simple mechanical friction]. Regards. Gary.

[walpurgis]

On the subject of stylus hygiene, does anyone have any experience of using one of Audio Technica's battery-powered stylus cleaning gadgets? I bought one - an AT 637 - back in the 80s,

I share your suspicions. I had one of these and thought the action rather vigorous for my expensive styli.

I won't use liquid cleaners on carts with tubular cantilevers, as the cleaner can enter the tube and possibly cause corrosion.

These days, I favour a gentle brushing with a stiff stylus brush and the use of a 'tacky' pad.