Stuart Polansky wrote:
This is all interesting, but the notion of paying $3000-$22,500 for a cartridge is just out of the question for many of us. While expensive equipment is the name of the game in hi-fi, and one can justify expenses for "durable" items like electronics, the reality is that cartridges do wear out, whether retipping or rebuilding is needed. I can appreciate spending tens of thousands for speakers or even for balls-to-the-wall electronics, that's a hard no for me anyway, as to cartridges.
If I have to give up on vinyl because one must have a $22,500 cartridge to really extract all the information from the grooves, then digital it is!
Stuart (the cheapster)
I agree with you. But at the same time I justified a $3,400 "investment" to get superb vinyl playback with the optical cartridge system. Any regrets? NOPE! But previously I obtained really good playback with some relatively low-cost cartridges while paying attention to set-up, phono-stage settings, and interconnects. And I'll be damned if anyone has to pay out $5-figures for a turntable and arm, especially when there are some really excellent inexpensive new and used kit out there for the taking.
Good vinyl playback is within reach of any budget.
I think too much is said about stylus wear when the average audio-nut splits enjoyment between digital and vinyl. Now-a-days a lot of audio playback is through streaming (for me it's CD) and that can be quite satisfying and very convenient.
Also, there is the "upgrade game." Does anyone really wear out a stylus before moving on to the next "better then sliced bread" product? Such is the nature of this hobby.
Here is food for thought. The 1,000 to 2,000 hour wear-cycle rating hasn't changed since the early 60s when the average tracking weight was 4-5 grams (or worst). Has anyone or any company actually performed reliability testing at lower tracking weights more typical of what's available to day? Especially using clean records that some of us that are anal (as a matter of routine) about such things when cuing up a record?
I haven't found such a study yet.
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