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Does size really matter? :-

I've seen stylus size discussed in regards to 78s and mono records, but never as it pertains to our good old stereo LPs. I was recently looking at cartridge specs, and was astonished by the difference in the size of the styli. Let's take, for example, 3 cartridges I'm considering:

Sumiko Blackbird Elliptical 0.3 x 0.7 mm

Dynavector 17D2MKll Karat Square .06 x .06 mm

Zyx Bloom Line Contact 6 x 35 um

Converting the first two to um from mm, we get this:

Sumiko 300 x 700

Dynavector 60 x 60

Zyx 6 x 35

This indicates the Sumiko is 50x wider and 20x longer than the Zyx! The Dynavector is between them. Even allowing for the different stylus profiles, this seems like an enormous difference in stylus size. Am I missing something?

I've read in other threads that the Zyx owners talk about the Zyx getting deeper into the groove, retrieving more info and, more importantly, contacting a section of the groove that, in the case of used records, previous styli haven't touched. Considering the above figures, these statements now make much more sense.

My big question is, why don't more manufacturers use the smaller styli? Are there advantages to larger styli that I'm missing? It doesn't seem like cost should be a factor, as the Zyx above is a US$490 cartridge. Do the smaller styli wear quicker? Easier to break? Harder to align?

Just wanting to get A'goner's thoughts. If there's a previous thread, please point me to it - I did a search, but didn't come up with anything relevant. Thanks.

David
armstrod

Showing 2 responses by rolloff

rolloff
128 posts
 
Hmm,
It's late at night, and I can't verify that I read every word of every post above, so apologies if I missed someone else pointing this out, but the dimensions of the stylus is nearly irrelevant. Only the tip of the stylus enters the groove. See my systems page for a real close-up of the stylus in the groove. I believe the photo was taken with an electron microscope. Someone may correct me on that though. You can't even see the entire stylus, but you can clearly see the groove walls, and only a tiny portion of the stylus riding in the walls. So, shape is a factor in the contact patch, but it's the tip of that shape that handles the information retrieval.
Yes, it could be effectively argued that the dimensions of the diamond color the sound that would be transmitted to the cantilever, but how much of a factor this would be compared to all of the other influences that shape a cartridges sound, I think might be negligible? Then again, as audiophiles, it's difficult for us to find anything negligible. Even the room temperature is a factor.
Cheers,
David
rolloff
128 posts
 
David,
In the light of day, after rereading your and Rauls prior posts above, +++++ "attributable more to the different profiles of the styli rather than their absolute size? " +++++ I see, as I suspected last night, that this point was addressed. That's something like the "point" I was trying to make as well. The size of the stylus probably isn't such an issue, it's the shape of the point that matters, and of that shape, only the very tip. I suppose, if you've got used records, one should also try to take into account what stylus shapes may have contacted the grooves in past play if you want to insure that you're going to be contacting new portions of the groove with a new stylus? Whenever I've changed stylus shape on cartridges, I've also upgraded the overall quality of the cartridge as well, so comparison for me based on shape of the stylus alone are difficult to gauge. It might be interesting to do a comparison of the different stylus shapes on new vinyl, to see if there is any discernible difference n the sound from contacting the grooves of virgin vinyl with differently shaped styli. Anyone know of a comparison like this having been done? Raul?

Dave
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