Stylus Profile Discussion

Advanced stylus profile setup problem is a myth. I have no problem to align any stylus profile, this is what a good tonearm/headshell can handle. The less sensitive is only conical, but it is also the worst and the cheapest. In my opinion a cartridge alignment with electronic microscope and some very special exotic devices is not necessary. Your arm must have VTA on the fly, a good bonus is headshell with azimuth adjustment. Dr.Feickert protractor is a must have for any turntable and cartridge. The most complicated profile in my collection was Replicant-100 and i did not notice any different in setup process at all. The best profiles last much longer (up to 2000 hrs), so i don’t understand why do i need those cheap profiles in high-end system if they last only about 300-500hrs and does not read the grooves correctly even properly aligned?

Agreed. I have Shibata, extended line contact, Paratrace and Microscanner and never worried any more than dialing in VTA when it came to setting them up.

1+ Millercarbon. Darn millercarbon, you are starting to make sense!
All of the top cartridges are using one form of fine line profile or another and I am beginning to think it is more for marketing than anything, another one of those secret sauces. Regardless of the profile a cartridge has to be set up correctly to minimize distortion and record wear particularly overhang, offset and azimuth. I'm one of those people who think VTA is not so critical. A stylus rake angle around 20 degrees is fine. You can only tell a difference at the extremes and every record is different anyway. I saw from 18 to 23 degrees once. It can actually change through the record with modulation generally going lower with higher modulation. A tonearm without a VTA tower is not a deal breaker for me. But to do it right you need one of these,    http://www.analogueartisan.com/Reference.html

mijostyn

A stylus rake angle around 20 degrees is fine. You can only tell a difference at the extremes and every record is different anyway.

You're confusing SRA with VTA - they are two different things. SRA should be set around 92 degrees, VTA around 20 is usually fine.

The main advantage to the "fine-line" type styli shapes is higher frequency response - that's what they were originally developed for.

(for the sake of discussion, I'll adopt an overly strong corner stance and opinion, etc)

Microridge and microline have what might be considered the best wear aspects. That they tend to sound the same until the end, and the end is obvious, sound quality wise.
That they wear, as they age, how this happens, over time...is the least damaging to the grooves. Throughout the wear/aging... the profile remains the same. That is why they were made to be (shaped) as they are.

Other profiles change their sound qualities much more as they go through their wearing down. And they have more capacity to produce damage to the grooves as they age. As the shape of the wear area can damage the grooves, due to misshaping of the wear area.

That all the other shapes will generally, eventually produce sharp (enough) cutting edges as they wear and reach the end..... and actually begin to cut away the grooves, microscopically. (Ieeeeeeeee! Ahhh! make it stop!)

https://www.dynavector.com/etechnical/microstylus.html

(that website page has some pretty bad engrish stuff going on, but one can get the point, regardless)

Thus, things like shibata stylus shapes may be considered to sound great, better than microgroove/microridge, in some minds. Sure. But then..the wear problem raises it’s ugly head.

Shibata is the hot ticket and buzzword, these days, it seems.

But I’d prefer the microridge/microline, due to the wear aspects. As, we use these dang things, over time... and they wear down, over time... and the shibata shape does not have a perfect wear profile, over time -unlike the other top contender of microridge/microline.

A final outcomes in analysis goes, there is the microridge and the microline and ---then the rest.  (fine line, shibata, replicant, van den hul, fritz Geiger, line contact, elliptical and conical)

The rest eventually produce groove damage.

The microridge/microline, does not, or so much less, that it is negligible, in comparison. The wear period and aging in-situ and in use.... becomes the entire subject and the very point itself.