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How easy is it to detect stylus wear/damage audibly? Help Needed.

jrtrent presents my view very well so I don't have to do a lot of typing, thank God. I have heard the results of people not changing their stylus often enough way too many times buying used records. The sad thing is I am a little lax on making sure I change them often enough, myself. I justify it by thinking I have many cartridges and change them around enough so the styli will never wear out, which may be true.

There is much misunderstanding with Shure's stance on VTF. They never said the lighter tracking, the better, regardless. They said the lighter, the better WITH THE STYLUS STAYING IN CONTACT WITH THE GROOVE WALLS and that is true. Absolutely.

The "people are weird about money" is also absolutely true. I used to work with guys who would literally drive 20 miles to the next town over to save 10 cents on an overcoat. They claimed it was the principle of the thing.

Doug
 
Doug G. said:
I justify it by thinking I have many cartridges and change them around enough so the styli will never wear out, which may be true.
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Yeah, this is me as well. I did a casual glance around my turntables and counted 30 different styli that are readily accessible for use. Hard to wear one out when you have that many in circulation.
 
bangsezmax said:
@jrtrent

I play in a band and it's a joke amongst musicians that people will bitch about paying a $7 cover and then happily buy five drinks at $10 apiece.
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Preach it, brother! I did a five year stint fronting a band and playing rhythm guitar. What's the old saying? Someone who loads $5000 worth of gear into a $500 car to drive 100 miles to a gig to get paid $75?
 
Come to think of it, part of my success with lack of record wear is that I tend to upgrade or change carts before the stylus ever does wear out...

I guess maybe the best answer to the OP's post is if you've had it long enough to have a nagging voice begging the question, it's time.
 
To the OP. I noticed the need for replacement (unknown time on used stylus) was when I heard a severe lack of highs. It was fine one day then not the next.
 
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I would say that you need to have a good baseline that you can lean on when in doubt - for instance, if you have a good condition copy of a well-mastered recording that you know the ins-and-outs of. If you begin to suspect something may be up with your setup (be it alignment, stylus wear, etc.), throw on a known good record and listen. This assumes that the record is in unchanged condition from your last listen, but should be pretty clear.
 
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