Stylus life vs program info on vinyl

garylkoh said:

I don't know that you can wear down a diamond listening to loud, noisy records. But if there are large modulations, the stylus could definitely pick up some vinyl (scraping the grooves out??)

Here's what a dirty stylus looks like.

View attachment 7010

After cleaning, the stylus still looks like it's nice and sharp.

View attachment 7011

I also don't know if loud, noisy music would stress the suspension more. I've got some recordings where I can see the groove wriggles with the naked eye - Heifetz Shaded Dogs come to mind, especially some of the mono recordings. But with rock, trance, etc. the groove modulations don't seem to be as severe.

Click to expand...

garylkoh said:

I don't know that you can wear down a diamond listening to loud, noisy records. But if there are large modulations, the stylus could definitely pick up some vinyl (scraping the grooves out??)

Here's what a dirty stylus looks like.

View attachment 7010

After cleaning, the stylus still looks like it's nice and sharp.

View attachment 7011

I also don't know if loud, noisy music would stress the suspension more. I've got some recordings where I can see the groove wriggles with the naked eye - Heifetz Shaded Dogs come to mind, especially some of the mono recordings. But with rock, trance, etc. the groove modulations don't seem to be as severe.

Click to expand...

jn229 said:

Looks like a Sound Smith rebuild.

Click to expand...

sombunya said:

I was wondering if the program info on a record has an effect on stylus life. I listen to primarily loud, noisey records. That means there are some big, heavy groove modulations that the needle tracks.

Will these types of groove modulations erode a stylus quicker than, let's say softer, quieter music?

Click to expand...