Stylus Lifetime?

[Macca]

Just read this on the Nagaoka website:

Stylus replacement: Nagaoka JN-P500

The stylus replacement interval varies depending on the using conditions. But for general use at home, the reference time is between 150-200 hours in which the stylus begin to wear and the tone quality deteriorates. Recommend replacing the stylus as early as possible to enjoy clear tone for a long time and not to damage the disc grooves

200 hours? I though 1000 was more like it? At the cost of the replacement 200 hours is pretty much a quid to play one album. Bit shocked about this. They quote the same lifetime for the cheapest one too.

http://www.nagaoka.eu/index.php?item=&action=page&group_id=10000003&lang=en

[Stratmangler]

That does seem to be a somewhat conservative estimate of lifespan.
Scale that up cost wise and how much per side would it cost with some of the more esoteric nails some folks use on here? :eyebrows:

[petrat]

Sounds like something got lost in translation ... or else they are using plastic stylii :D

I have read that there are different 'grades' of diamond used ... which would make some sense regarding pricing, I suppose.
The longest-lived ones can last up to 3000 hours, reputedly (Audio Note Io, Koetsu*).


* which makes them about 50p per album, so still not cheap.

[Gazjam]

What if you need a retip...? :eek:

[walpurgis]

Stylus life about 20 minutes around here with my grand daughters about. :)

seriously, 150 to 200 hours sounds like nonsense to me. I've had many perfectly good styli with far more than that on them. ZYX quote up to 2000 hours for their 'Micro Ridge' tip!

[NRG]

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/stylus%20life.html

[Macca]

There were some typos in the text which I fixed when I copied and pasted, so maybe it is meant to read '1500-2000 hours' which would make more sense?

[The Barbarian]

Change mine every year

[struth]

would think thats closer to the truth Martin at 2000......if they are saying 200 then they are either at it or we've all ruined our records.

[Clive197]

Back in the late sixties/early seventies when I got into Hifi in a serious and expensive way, the general consensus was 1500-2000 hours. Sapphire stylus's would only last a few hundred hours at best which is why quality mm/mc cartridge manufacturers used diamond.

Clive

[Andrei]

There were some typos in the text which I fixed when I copied and pasted, so maybe it is meant to read '1500-2000 hours' which would make more sense?
Martin, those decimal points float around in tricky ways when you are under the influence of Saki.
I suppose the longevity has to vary according to the quality of the stylus, presumably harder materials last longer.
Those nice people at Origin Live tell us that upgrading the arm is a more cost effective upgrade because you don't have to keep repurchasing tonearms like you have to do with styli / cartridges. Hmmmm.

[CageyH]

That is what put me off buying an MP500.
A new stylus every 200 hours? WTF?

[paskinn]

I doubt that Nagoka cartridges wear any more quickly than the competition....if they did, do you think Nagoka would advertise the fact.
There's also a question about the meaning of 'wear' in this context. Everything ever made begins to 'wear' the moment it is used. The meaningful question is when it begins to matter...
My own experience has been that with moving coils the suspension usually deteriorates faster than the tip.

[Clive197]

........
My own experience has been that with moving coils the suspension usually deteriorates faster than the tip.

Only on Linn cartridges for some reason!!!!!

Clive

[Clive]

I seem to remember comments about contact patches....ie a conical tip has a small contact patch so it wears faster than a line contact with a larger contact patch. In many cases I expect the line contact tip to be higher quality too.

[walpurgis]

Hmm. I don't have data handy on this, but my feeling is there's not much difference. A conical stylus (round tip) contact area is wider along the groove length than ellipticals and line contacts, but does not follow fine modulations as well as it 'skips' over the higher frequencies, so to speak.

Anyway, the 'patch' of diamond in contact with the groove walls with a conical tip is not necessarily as deep in the groove as the others but is broader and I believe has pretty much the same area. Having owned hundreds of various cartridges with differing tips, I can't say I've noticed much variance in wear rates.

I believe the conical tipped Denon DL-103 has a life expectation of around 2000 hours. The same as the ZYX Micro Ridge ultra line contact type. (not that I've worn either out)

[struth]

As I dont just use vinyl, I probably do about an Hr a day average at most. so at that rate it should take me 6 years to wear a tip down.....not too bad, and doubt a laser will be as reliable or as easy to change.

[Martyn Miles]

Ask the Expert Stylus Company. They once checked a stylus for me that had played approx. 500 sides and said they were no appreciable signs of wear. So there...

[DSJR]

Ladies who listened to test pressings day in day out for a living could hear a stylus going off after 75 hours apparently.

Thing is, styli in the 70's were often like bits of barely polished coal in all honesty, looking cloudy and ill formed under a microscope. Empire styli were notorious for this as well as AKG and the least said about most 70's Shure styli the better!!! These days, with grain orientated diamonds and computer aided polishing (the AT95 and Carbon/91 tips are very well done these days), I reckon on 500 hours being a minimum, as long as the bias is set properly, as Linn Basik arms had too much, as did Rega RB series and wear could be seen to be lop-sided I remember.

[NRG]

Hmm. I don't have data handy on this, but my feeling is there's not much difference. A conical stylus (round tip) contact area is wider along the groove length than ellipticals and line contacts, but does not follow fine modulations as well as it 'skips' over the higher frequencies, so to speak.

Anyway, the 'patch' of diamond in contact with the groove walls with a conical tip is not necessarily as deep in the groove as the others but is broader and I believe has pretty much the same area. Having owned hundreds of various cartridges with differing tips, I can't say I've noticed much variance in wear rates.

I believe the conical tipped Denon DL-103 has a life expectation of around 2000 hours. The same as the ZYX Micro Ridge ultra line contact type. (not that I've worn either out)

You'd be mistaken there Geoff, the line contact styli have a larger contact area than point contact types. Great info here on the various shapes: http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=22894

[walpurgis]

I have an ADC 10E Mk. II, that has seen nearly fifty years worth of on and off use and under a microscope the shanked elliptical diamond tip looks new, still carrying a high polish and no flattening of the fine radius edge. I couldn't say exactly how many hours it has under its belt but guess it must be in excess of 2000. I should mention that this cartridge is a very light tracker, in the right arm it seems happy enough at between 0.75 and 1.0 grams.

[walpurgis]

You'd be mistaken there Geoff, the line contact styli have a larger contact area than point contact types. Great info here on the various shapes: http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=22894

That's an interesting read Neal. :)