[net.audio] Stylus cleaners really stylus wear

dmmartindale@watcgl.UUCP (Dave Martindale) (10/27/84)

A week ago, I had my stylus checked at a large stereo store in downtown
Toronto.  After several minutes setting up and peering through the
microscope, the store's person announced that the stylus should
have been replaced "a LONG time ago".  This seemed a bit strange to me,
since I had heard that styli could be expected to last in the neighbourhood
of 500 hours of playing time, and I didn't think I'd put near that many
hours on it.

Today, I took it to another store, one that I trust somewhat more.
The verdict: it has gone through about half its useful life.
This does fit my intuitive idea of how much it has been used.

I suspect that the person in the other store was either unable to
inpect the stylus properly, or just wanted me to buy a new one.