Air kills cartridges?

Rubber suspension components deteriorate, primarily because ozone attacks rubber. This is oxidative deterioration. Rubber also deteriorates beause of crystallization, causing it to lose flexibility. Cold storage impedes oxidative deterioration but accelerates crystallization. This low temp crystallization can generally be reversed by heating though.

A bit extreme don't you think? Packing them in their original container and making sure a small bag of fresh silica gel is in there should be enough. The rubber will degrade with age just like we do. How long are you planning on keeping these carts?

I have four cartridges in current use -- ADC, Grace, Pickering, Ortofon -- that
are at least 30 years old and sound great. Suspension deterioration is
overexaggerated as a issue, IMHO. In a couple cases where there seemed to be
a problem (including one of the four mentioned), I was able to bring them back
to life by applying a tiny amount of Rubber ReGrip to the suspension with a
toothpick. I'm sure that some carts do expire from old age, but I wouldn't
hesitate to buy an elderly one and I sure wouldn't keep them pickled in some
kind of chemical bath. I do live in a moderate climate, so that may be a factor
to consider.

Dopgue is right, the deterioration issue seems to be exaggerated often. I too have cartridges 30 years old that sound fine still. Another good product is "Rubber Renue" by M.G. Chemicals (mgchemicals.com.) I've never tried it on my cartridge suspension, but it works great on grommets, gaskets, belts, etc.

If anyone was advocating a storage medium, it would probably be sealed in a gas-tight container filled with an inert gas like nitrogen. This could most easily be done at home using one of those wine preservative aerosol sprays that are likely mostly nitrogen. I have no idea how effective this is, but if you are planning on storing a cart for a long time it couldn't hurt and would be pretty cheap.

Sic transit gloria mundi! No matter if humans, nations, planets, cartridges.....

Felt like I walked into the wrong classroom...I have had a Genesis 2000 for maybe 10+ years with very low hours and just recently put it back on to play. So the question I started out some weeks back was "should I keep using the Genesis (but getting a SUP or headamp) or simply move to HOMC?" Genesis sounds great, BTW.

don't know what you just said but if "sic" has anything to do with "sick" I'd say you're not far off. ;-)

Appropriate ending for this thread.

I know this started out as a question about a cartridge but it appears that we may have found some more parameters for the "ideal" listening room: an airtight environment filled with an inert gas (such as nitrogen), perhaps cooled to absolute zero. Any contact with the outside "real" world would be the cryogenically-treated electrical outlets and a phone line for that all-important teleportation tweak. Good grief.