Cartridges don't generally misalign themselves, unless the cantilever has taken some damage or become skewed, or the mounting screws are loose or you have changed something. At 1100 hours for a bonded elliptical stylus, you are looking at replacing it sooner rather than later.
Ortofon themselves estimate stylus life as ~1000 hours with no noticeable loss of performance, after which the stylus starts to loose performance until about ~2000 hours when it's at the end of it's life.
If you plan to just get a replacement 2M Red stylus, why not get it right way, so you have a point of reference you can compare the old one against - it might have lost more than you know, as the changes have been gradual and you'd become accustomed to them as they happen. Or if it really is still performing like new, then you could just keep using it until you start to hear a difference between that and the new one.
Is it clean?
a needle gathers a LOT of gunk over time, not all of it easy to remove dust. This happens especially if your aren't in pristine condition, and they very rarely are
try and give it a very thorough cleaning session, using a soft brush, some alcohol, and a LOT of patience. Take care to (very carefully!) clean it sideways and from front to back - this is usually discouraged since the chances of damaging the cantilever by mistake are considerably higher.
When clean - try it again. also, have a good look at it through a magnified glass, to see how 'pointy' it is.
after such use, the needle might be dead, but might also still be in great shape
Ortofon themselves estimate stylus life as ~1000 hours with no noticeable loss of performance,
I religiously use the Ortofon stylus brush as well as a Magic Eraser usually between records. Should I use alcohol with the Ortofon stylus brush or something else? I have read that Ortofon recommends not using any liquid on it's stylii.
I'll have to pick up a magnifying glass.
Thanks.
I have read that Ortofon recommends not using any liquid on it's stylii.
Thanks.
Regularly? certainly not.
Once every 500 hours or so? It won't harm the stylus at all, and will get dirt of it, which other (milder) substances can't.
Now if I wanted to get a stylus cleaner that is less expensive than the Zero Dust, I would look to the Moongel pads. I have some here, and while it works on the same principal as the Zero Dust, it does not seem to be made of the same materials. But it does work well, is inexpensive, and easy to find. Others like the Magic Eraser option, but i prefer the Moongel.
But clean records and stylus are very important to getting the longest possible life out of the diamond.
Regards
Mister Pig
Huh? What are Moongel Pads?
Huh? What are Moongel Pads?