The Vinyl Press

The Finish Line for Your Phonograph Stylus… Based on an informal survey of friends who predominately play vinyl records, I believe the most neglected part of their audio system is the stylus on their phonograph cartridge. The stylus is a key component in an audio system and is subjected to the most wear. Yet when I asked folks in my network how many hours of play their cartridges have seen, they could not tell me with any accuracy; all ventured educated guesses. I’ve been there too. Given the value of records today, particularly rare and collectible jazz records, it is astonishing that more care is not given to understanding the condition of the diamond stylus. That recognition led to this article, where I will examine the critical issue of stylus wear as it pertains to useful life and the potential for damage to records. In his 1954 booklet The Wear and Care of Records and Styli (Climax Pub. Co., New York, pp.56),  babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015017575856;view=1up;seq=5 (courtesy of HathiTrust), Harold Weiler states that research shows the majority of listeners were damaging their valuable record collection through continued use of worn styli. He goes on to suggest that listeners were introducing considerable distortion into otherwise excellent audio systems. He writes, “It was a revelation to discover that even those who had acquired expensive fidelity reproducing equipment, were not entirely aware of the important part played by the stylus in record reproduction and record wear.” Honestly, little has changed. My research on stylus wear was driven in a large part by a desire to better care for records in my own collection, i.e., to do no harm with a worn stylus. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that no consensus exists within the vinylphile community, nor even among manufacturers of phono cartridges on how many hours of play wears a modern natural diamond stylus to the point where it should to be retipped or replaced. In my … [Read More...]