2. analog
  3. 135818-70153

Stylus Photos - Opinions Please

I have 2 cartridges, both pretty old:
Madrigal Carnegie 1
Audioquest B200L

When I bought my turntable used (back in the 80's) it had the Carnegie 1 but I replaced it with the Audioquest because my dealer said the Carnegie was pretty worn.

Fast forward to today I get one of those $15 USB microscopes & look at the styluses on each. I know this is no comparison to a real microscope but I'm hoping what we see can be used to make a rough evaluation?

If any of you would like to look at these photos & let me know what you think, it would be greatly appreciated.

A side note, it was much more difficult to get a half decent shot of the AudioQuest.

Thanks,
Kevin Looker
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Q23oxNU51uycEAnI6vin7IWJEomU_AoV
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-Fqo13vz-8ZJmW690rRbHlrGDPQKPedX
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1z9UReCjstNCZOKESHSqvWOWGWGAM5UiI
klooker
invictus005
597 posts
 
Cheap Chinese USB microscope won't cut it. Can't see anything whatsoever in those pictures. And the dealer will always tell you that your cartridge is pretty worn to sell you a new one.

If it sounds good and doesn't mistrack, keep on playing them.
drmemory62
37 posts
 
Depending upon how old those stylii are I'd be more concerned about degradation of the materials controlling the movement of the cantilever than the needles.  As pointed out by the gentleman above, if it sounds good and isn't damaging the vinyl you're probably OK.
klooker OP
16 posts
 
Thanks for the replies.

The Audioquest tracks fine & sounds great. It just looked like the stylus was much smaller (possibly worn) than the Carnegie's which was supposedly heavily worn.

I'll see if I can persuade our local jeweler to let me use their microscope.
More to discover