NOS cartridges

Big Difference between wire, bearings, and rubber elastomers. I have stated this before. Experts before, in the age of vinyl nirvana, in the 1980's always recommended that cartridges be replaced every 18 months regardless of useage, including NOS, never used. This is due to the oxidation that occurs naturally. This happens to Pinch Rollers, Belts, etc...on tape decks as well. But these are much easier treated with rubber cleaner/conditioner to restore the rubber. This is not easy, and almost impossible to do with the damper in a cartridge. Its definately risky buying old, NOS cartridges for this reason. its human nature, gonna happen, you cant change that. so, much safer to buy New Cartridges that are within proper date. i know that many of you post here whatever Raul says, but thats his opinion, and he is entitled to it. But doesn't make it right. Id be wary of NOS cartridges, unless you can buy new quality replacement stylii, like those from JICO. Then its a different story. Ray

I hardly think that I belong to Raul's posse considering the disagreements we have had in the past. As I said I use older cartridges all the time, in a recent test in HIFICRITIC a 18 year old Shure V-15, put in as a reference, outscored several NEW MCs and MMs, some by a large margin. Although I use MCs myself and have since the 70s older MMs can work well. I recently bought a Grace F9E on a used Linn, worked fine and I sold it to a MM user. Took me back to my Grace dealer days. I thought changing your cartridge every 18 months was intended to sell you a new cartridge, it may have applied to el cheapo cartridges but no one I knew paid any attention to it. Nor was it in the dealer lit in the days when there was such a thing. Some of the most respected reviewers talk about cartridges they have used for years, I have never read of one discarding a cartridge because it was old.

Hi Stan,
I have exchanged posts with you in the past, regarding VPI and SME. You tolld me that you were pretty well lost in todays audio, since you gave up business many years ago. I have the source of the writings of this info, regarding cartridge life, and being on the safe side, in replacing cartridges, after certain amounts of usage. As for NOS in a box, it mentioned 18 months, as for usage, some recommend 500-700-1000 hours of usage, depending. Its not something as easy as looking at the stylus tip under high magnification, that can show serious problems, but not really a gauge for replacement. There is a book, that you may well want to invest in, it has many of the experts in Turntables, as well as cartridges as contributors. Its called "Good Sound" by Laura Dearborn....Im not at all looking for an arguement, but posting recommendations from sources far more knowledgeable in this field than myself. Kind of like getting your car oil changed every 3,000 miles. Others will argue that they have gone farther without changing their oil. Thats fine, but much safer, for the guy who follows a schedule, and the 3,000 mile methosd thats been around for years. This was not an attempt to sell more cartridges, but I can see how there are those people out there that would have that be the first thing that pops into their head. I believe that you may not recall reading this, but maybe its something that you missed, after all, this advice was given during the Heydays of Vinyl and Turntables, along with the best of cartridges....the 1980's....Ray

Rayr2 et al, you're misinformed re using old NOS cartridges. I wrote Ortofon in Danish in Denmark and asked them this very question re using a NOS M20FL, and received the following answer from an engineer:

"There's nothing that ages if the pickup isn't used, we have examples of 20 and 30 year old pickups that work. The parts that wear are the diamond and suspension system when used, and dust is another factor that ruins pickups, but again mostly during use. You can comfortably use your M20, the only thing to be aware of is the .5 mm free height between the pickup and the record."

Rayr2, Ortofon is probably the most accomplished pickup/vinyl transducer maker in the world today, having been around the longest with the most success.

*Critically*, don't forget the extreme self bias inherent in pickup makers' supposed recommendations (that I've never heard) that one should replace cartridges every 18 months. If Ortofon says it isn't so, it isn't so.

While I ceased being a dealer for some years I am now one again and I certainly do not consider myself lost in todays audio. I have been a dealer for Supex, Ortofon, Grace, Shure , Sumiko and others in the past and now am a Dynavector and Van den Hul dealer as well as a VPI dealer. I admit that I have lost interest in the parts of the market that feature components costing over $20,000 each. If you want to think that cartridges are good for only 18 months that is your privilege. If anyone out there has an 18 month old Koetsu Rosewood and is ready to throw it away I'll give you $200 for it.