atmosphere,
I also have old records, dating much before 1990s, that sound just fine to me even if "rocks" they were played with have not always been state-of-the-art. In fact, some did have coins placed on the tonearm. "Sounding fine to me" may be influenced by nostalgia, though.
"This is a common strawman. There’s no rock."I have a feeling that kosst_amojan was alluding to diamond that is often, if not always, at the tip. I have no idea where cartridge manufacturers source it from, but many a bride-to-be likes to refer to it as a "rock". Probably all of the bride-to-be ladies would be very disappointed if rocks they got were size of a needle tip, though. What do they use to make contact surfaces of the styli these days?
I also have old records, dating much before 1990s, that sound just fine to me even if "rocks" they were played with have not always been state-of-the-art. In fact, some did have coins placed on the tonearm. "Sounding fine to me" may be influenced by nostalgia, though.