Calling Dr. Howard!

[ranf1970]

Hey Howard,

Since both the AK community and myself hold you in high regard and you are the guru of carts/styli, I have a few questions to ask:

1. I read in a book once that it is wise to change your stylus every year. Is this wise? I haven't kept time as far as how many hours my styli has been being used. My AT 120 E/T has been over a year as a daily runner and my MP-11 just a few months (on a different TT)
   
2. I was looking at stereoneedle's AT replacement styli chart that someone posted some time ago and the AT 120 falls under Group K. There are 6 possible replacements that I can use. But here is my question, if I use the AT 120 cart and replace the stylus with, say, ATN125LC, would this affect the sound in any way? It's not the original stylus and I'm sure the cart was of better quality. Would the upgrade be worth it or not?
   
3. Same question except upgrading the MP-11 to a better Nagaoka stylus.

Thanks for your time Howard! :thmbsp:

 

[Nat]

I'm no doctor and certainly not Doctor Howard. But rules of thumb like change your stylus each year make about as much sense as change your oil every three months. It all depends on how much use, and what kind of use the things have gotten. Some people wear out stylii or engines at a great rate, others can change them very infrequently. I think every year would be probably unneccessarily often, but a lot depends on the stylus itself and on how much use its had. I believe grain oriented stylii last longer than randomly oriented ones, and more highly polished ones longer than less polished ones. And smaller contact area stylli, like ellipticals, may last less time than line contact or conical styllii.
Incidently, both oil and cantilever suspensions age over time, so even if you don't drive or listen to records at all, you might need to change them every decade or whatever just to keep them functional.

 

[hakaplan]

1. I agree with Nat--it's more about the number of hours. You can look up threads here on how long styli last and you'll find plenty of opinions, but I believe the consensus is roughly 500 hours for conical, 800 for elliptical and 1000 for line contact, or something along those lines. Just estimate the hours based on how often you listen and for how long at a time.

2. The cartridge bodies are the same. Possibly (and lini would know this) the 150 and 160 had fancier wire in their cores, but still the styli are all interchangeable, and the higher up you go, the better the sound and with more sophisticated tips (e.g. finer elliptical, line contact) the more detail will be extracted. So using the 125LC would result in better sound and more detail. This has been confirmed by other members. Incidentally, the styli in group L will also fit. These were the same bodies, but in p-mount.

3. Same with the Nagaoka.

 

[Nat]

Should add that how clean your records are has a big effect on wear -- vinyl is a lot softer than grit and dust. So cleaning records is worth doing, not only to minimize noise, but to make more of your investment in small diamonds.

 

[ranf1970]

Thank you for your input Nat and Howard! When I read this, I did find it a little strange. I had read here on AK about the 500 hr. rule. Like I said, the AT is on my Dual, that is a daily runner playing about 2-3 records a night (give or take) and has been on it for more than a year now. It's just that I didn't keep record of time and was not sure if now was a good time to change or not. The sound doesn't appear to be any different than a few months ago so I'll assume all is well with the stylus for now. Thanks again!