Buying a used cartridge...tell us your tale.

I do think that buying a used MM cartridge with a removable stylus is a VERY different proposition to buying an expensive used MC cart with a non-removable stylus.

Bill, that's interesting. Owning a microscope to look at the stylus is a great idea. This reminds me of a situation decades ago, wherein I acquired a used Koetsu Onyx for a fair price. The Seller was a local guy who had given up on audio. Anyway, after I took the cart to a local dealer, we were able to look at the stylus under a microscope. To my dismay, the stylus was completely worn and had basically no life left. The Seller was nice enough to take the cart back and refund me the money. I'm not sure in those days if Koetsu had a rebuild program, BUT on a students income, it would have been irrelevant.

Thanks for sharing that, Peter. I do have a question...looking at your microscope photo of the diamond tip of your Koetsu, I cannot tell anything more than the fact that the diamond is attached to the cantilever and appears to be intact ( Plus, the cantilever appears to be straight and more or less in line with the cartridge body). What am I looking for as far as the wear patterns in your photo?
What are the wear patterns that dictate that the stylus is no longer acceptable? Anyone...
Thanks.

Thanks, Peter. That is an interesting article from MF. I am curious as to when the actual onset of wear will occur on the record in relation to the wear pattern on the diamond. The conventional thinking is that the wear will be severe on the LP when the wear on the diamond is as shown in the examples by amhifi and Kharma. OTOH, I would suspect that the shape of the stylus has something to do with the shape that is seen under the microscope...in relation to the supposed wear pattern. The idea of listening for wear that MF brings up, makes a lot of sense to me. The 'crackling' that he was talking about would be a definite red flag. I wonder what other red flags there are?? Only problem is that by the time you hear the red flag...I suspect it's too late!!

The other issue that seems to be overlooked is the aging of the cartridge suspension. These components may even wear out prior to the stylus and are IME very hard to determine by a general eyeball inspection.

The question then becomes as to whether the used cartridge is performing up to spec and what the overall loss of information and distortion is due to suspension age?