Quality Vintage tonearms are in demand. Ittok, Syrinx, Helius, Zeta, Mission and a few others — SME of course — fetch much more than their original prices after adjusted for inflation.
But not so with cartridges, except the legendary ones. Most buyers in the current market would rather choose from the recent proliferation of new cartridges, with guarantees, rather than take a chance.
All my cartridges are minimum 30 years old, most are 40+, and one is pushing 60, and were all bought NOS, and only one had a bad suspension. But too many people think older suspensions have all failed — mostly due to opinions-without-experience they read on forums like this.
But not so with cartridges, except the legendary ones. Most buyers in the current market would rather choose from the recent proliferation of new cartridges, with guarantees, rather than take a chance.
All my cartridges are minimum 30 years old, most are 40+, and one is pushing 60, and were all bought NOS, and only one had a bad suspension. But too many people think older suspensions have all failed — mostly due to opinions-without-experience they read on forums like this.