Matching favourite Stylus to another Cartridge

Are all of the technical specs, like output voltage, channel separation, frequency response the domain only of the stylus itself or does the cartridge itself influence it in any way?

Are you talking about MM cartridges ?

Surely you CAN’T use a stylus from one manufacturer on the cartridge from another, because each stylus designed for certain signal generator, so forget it. There is a cartridge impedance, inductance, compliance ... these parameters are different from one model to another, you can ruin the sound using mismatched stylus. 

If you can't find original stylus replacement for your cartridge then you can look for JICO replacement made for your model, it is not the original stylus, but made especially for certain models of cartridges as modern replacement. JICO SAS are the best and most expensive. You will have to find your cartridge model in the list of compatible cartridges. 

What cartridge are you talking about ? 

So, here comes my question: Are all of the technical specs, like output voltage, channel separation, frequency response the domain only of the stylus itself or does the cartridge itself influence it in any way?

The stylus traces the record groove. Period. It definitely impacts the sound, but it is far from being as decisive or important as you seem to think.

Stylus shape determines how it fits in the groove. The goal is to follow the groove wall. Why? As the stylus moves left and right, up and down, what is it doing? 

The stylus is at the tip of the cantilever. That's the thin little wire you see coming out the bottom of the cartridge. As the stylus moves back and forth it wiggles the cantilever. 

Why is it called the cantilever? Because its a lever. The cantilever goes way up inside the cartridge where you can't see. There's lots of different designs but basically they all look something like this:
http://turntablebasics.com/images/ATMagnetics.jpg
This is what's called a moving magnet (MM) cartridge. Moving coil (MC) is the same only the magnets and coils are reversed. That's not the point.

The point is the stylus traces the groove, which moves the cantilever, which moves the magnets (or coils) which makes the signal.

Every single one of these component parts has a huge impact on the sound. Its not just the stylus. Its all of them. 

Frankly: can any other cartridge than the original one have impact on the sound? Does cartridge body itself has any properties when it comes about sound quality and characteristics?

Oh good, you asked about the cartridge body. Yes that too.

I understand when you said "cartridge body" you lumped all the inside stuff in the picture above together with the outside of the body you can see. When in fact the body is one more component part of the cartridge. 

What happens is every time you play a record the stylus starts moving back and forth which causes the cantilever to vibrate which causes the whole suspension and magnets and yes the cartridge body to start vibrating. 

The problem is the signal we wind up with coming out the cartridge is the result only of the magnets and coils moving relative to each other. If you look at the way this is all made you can see there is no way of separating the stylus vibrations that are the signal we want from all the other stuff vibrating that we don't want.

So yes even the cartridge body itself, by the way it helps (or doesn't) to control all this vibration has a huge influence on the sound.

That's what makes these things so expensive and hard to make. Every single one of these tiny little parts affects the sound. The stylus is the least of it. Well, actually not any more the least than any of the other parts. They all matter.

The beauty of this is you can pretty much forget about the stylus. You can forget about the cantilever. All you need to think about is how much voltage does it put out, and how does it sound? You want enough output for your phono stage. That's first. Once you have that then you want it to sound as good as possible for the money. That's it. Whatever stylus or body or whatever has enough output and sounds good enough, that's the one.

The stylus grip has to fit the body of your cartridge. Usually there are several, if not many styli+grips that will fit a given cartridge.

First, and foremost, what is the model of your cartridge?

+1 chakster! The Jico SAS stylus replacement is the way to go! I bought one as a future replacement when I got my NIB Shure V15mk5mrx!

Which stylus do you have, and with which cartridge body do you want to use it? We may be of greater help if you tell us. 

Regards, samplivist:

The answer to your question is yes and no. 
 
First, the stylus assembly should be dimensionally correct for your replacement cartridge.
 
Next, styli and cartridges are "tuned" for best frequency response (paraphrased from Shure data base):

1)  The mechanical response of the stylus, which typically has a resonance just past 20 kHz (ibid), this raises the frequency response as you go up in frequency.
2)  The electrical response of the coil in the cartridge (resistance and inductance) loaded by the cable and preamp it’s attached to which lowers it (with a high slope - 12 dB/octave)
3)  The magnetic response (eddy current losses) of the pole pieces in the cartridge (this lowers it with a low slope – 3 dB / octave).

  Laminated pole pieces reduce eddy currents, if non-laminated there will be roll-off due to loss from eddy currents. If cantilever resonance introduces unwanted high frequency emphasis  cantilever damping may be necessary so it's not always a case of "if it fits, it sits".

  To name a few, some Goldring, Shure and Audio Technica share cartridge bodies across a wide range of cartridge designations, the difference being the supplied stylus. There is a wide range of appropriate substitutions within these "families" of cartridges.

  Although purists may rightfully object, others have experimented with these substitutions and even if not entirely appropriate, have found the results pleasing.

  It should also be mentioned that cartridges rarely fail. A little additional information such as the model of your cartridge and a description of why you believe your cartridge is faulty would be helpful.

Peace,  

Guys,
thank you for all your responses!

@timeltel you're right- my cartridge has been physically damaged during the transport (long story- not my fault- don't want to go too deep, it's too sad :-(  :-D 

Yeah, you're right to ask this question, and i feel responsible for answer, although i'm kind of shy - it's Ortofon Arkiv and i'm planning to buy either OM 10 or OM 20 cartridge as a replacement  https://www.ortofon.com/om-series-p-550

So you’re talking about Ortofon Arkiv cartridge designed for deejays, this is professional series of cartridges. You’d better use a styli from similar concorde or om series with it.

If you want a better cartridge just buy entirely new cartridge with better stylus
Arkiv is a muddy souding cartridge like every model in Ortofon professional line, they are durable and stable, this is the only benefit of them, but not the sound quality.

Something like very cheap Grado Black or Grado DJ200i (Moving Iron) is much better for about $110-150

@chakster actually i like this kind of muddy sound, that's why i don't want to change it :-)

I'll check Grados anyway.

Then you have plenty of time to learn and try much better MM/MI cartridges to understand what analog playback is all about, because Ortofon professional cartridges are not about sound quality, it’s all about high output and durability for professional needs where the signal heavily EQed on deejay mixers (and often compressed on club’s PA). I tried them all, absolutely all of them when i used to run a small recordshop, we’he been selling Ortofon cartridges, not only records. And i’ve been using them myself 15 years ago expecting that Concord Gold could be better than Concord Night Club (or OM), it was a waste of time. They are all have bonded (not nude) diamonds with only two profiles like spherical or elliptical. Styli often cracks (plastic holder). They are all low compliance for use with very high tracking force (record wear factor is high). 

My advice is to stop using them and open much better sound for yourself, you can do that with Grado and with Grado you can upgrade with different styli on the same Grado Black (or Grado DJ100i or 200i) cartridge. Take a virtual tour of Grado factory in NYC.

If the budget is low you can also look for Nagaoka MP150 series or Audio-Technica cartridges made for hi-fi, not for professional market. They are all much better than professional Ortofon series.