Cartridge life

Actually depends on stylus shape, orientation of the stylus face to the hardest facet and VTF. Ellipticle should be nearer to your pointed out figure of 700 hrs and those shibata about 1000 to 1,500 hrs. These figures also must be playing with always cleaned records with a RCM and using those lubricants like LAST.

Best still to have a stereoscopic microscope to check it. These are just guides.

Personally, i have never seen stylus damage due to normal wear in any of my styluses...all stylus damage that i have experienced was from accidental misuse (dropping, scratching etc).

I do not count the hours that i use them, but i do occasionally check under magnification. (loops and microscope).

I do use my TT on a regular basis (current setup Linn LP12, Inspire Vivid kit full upgrade, Rega RB1000, AT OC9)

I think that it is of cardinal importance to keep the LP's very clean using carbon fiber brush and if surface noise becomes apparent, cleaning in some kind of cleaning machine (Keith Monks, Oki, Moth etc), to prevent dust and debris build up.

It is dust in my opinion that works in a "sanding" manner on the stylus.

Sound degradation of cartridges/styluses are rather failure of cantilever suspension due to perishing in time.

I have never owned a very expensive cartridge, some that i had are: Ortofon MC10 Super, Goldring Eroica, Audio Technica f5, oc7, oc9 which i am using at the moment and it is the second one after i broke the first one's cantilever. Also i have had a few moving magnets with the same findings.

I have sold or given away my second hand cartridges and never did i have any complaints o failures etc...

This is my personal view based on my experience.

Also depends on how the LP's have been tracked in the past.... if you go over from a conical to an elliptical you will wear the tracks and stylus out faster.... always best to stick with either conical or elliptical

Weight, tracking force, warped records, scratched records, dust etc. all play a part in knackering the stylus prematurely.... it's many years since I owned a turntable but I always replaced my cartridges every 6 months (mostly because I wanted to try something different!) I ran my grooves with elliptical from day one.

Most probably the factors you address play a role...

I have records that belonged to my father, and other relatives, old and worn (i mean the records...), and i have bought a great deal second hand form shops and flea markets, and there were few examples of non playable or unhearable records, as long as no visible marks are seen on the surface.

Mis-tracked damage i have experienced was minimal only in second hand records.

My turntables have always been meticulously adjusted by the shops i bought them or by me, and thus far i have had: Technics SL-Q2 (Stanton 881s), Rega Planar 2 (Goldring Eroica), AR "The Legend"/ RB300 (MC10 Super/AT F5), Linn Sondek LP12 (Basik Plus AT F5, Akito Mk1 AT OC7/OC9, Rega RB1000 AT OC9).

VTA Parallel 0deg, VTF near at/or manufacturers maximum, antiscating similar to VTF (not always), Deck adjusted with water level/ suspension also.

They have never mis-tracked due to adjustment error, rather due to second hand Lp already damaged by someone else.

In my opinion Lp's will last indefinitely if played on a good deck and if handled with care and occasional cleaning on a machine (even the cheap Knosti Disco Antistat which i thoroughly recommend btw).

My favorite records are with me since my student days and still play magnificently after many-many-many times, despite what was said about the deterioration of sound quality in another discussion in this forum...maybe i am going deaf...not...

Specs

Weight: 9 grams

Stylus type: Fritz Gyger Type 1

Stylus tip radius: r/R 4.5 / 80 uM

Equivalent stylus tip mass: 0.33 mg

Frequency response: 20 - 40 kHz +4 dB / -1 dB

Output Voltage at 1 kHz, (cm/sec): Greater than 0.2 mV

Channel separation at 1 kHz: Greater than 25 dB

Channel separation at 15 kHz: Greater than 19 dB

Channel balance at 1 kHz: less than 1 dB

Compliance dynamic: (lateral / vertical) 16/16 um

Tracking angle: (vertical) 20 degrees

Tracking force range: 16 - 20 / 1.6 - 2.0 mN/g

Tracking ability at 315 Hz: (lateral) 90 uM

Internal resistance: 3 Ohms

Recommended load impedance: greater than 10 Ohms

FIM distortion: less than 0.8%

It's much like the VDH fine line stylus (it's actually based on the Fine Line). It is a line contact shaped stylus. I believe other some (not all) Ortofon's use different variations of Gyger stylii. Mr. Gyger is from Switzerland.

Hi Alex, the above is sourced via google by the way. ;-)