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Metal "whiskers" on cartridge body

I checked my stylus/cartridge yesterday, the stylus looked great. However, I noticed metal "whiskers" attached to the front of the cartridge body (an ESCCO modified Zu Denon 103R).

I have no idea where these came from, the cartridge is always stored in a clean wooden box, by itself, when not in use.

Is a there a safe way to remove them? They don't seem inclined to go anywhere, but I'd rather they not be there.

I welcome your thoughts.

Regards,
Dan
islandmandan
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
I've seen these on quite a few cartridges. It's not clear to me that such "whiskers" are actually metal, though their orientations certainly appear to result from the magnet field of the cartridge.

A research project with spectroscopic analysis is clearly in order. Any takers?
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
1,798 posts
 
It's not clear to me that such "whiskers" are actually metal

Interesting - lets get a quick answer on this one.

Dan, pull one of the whiskers off, walk over to your fridge and place it near the fridge magnet holding the picture of you with the trophy bass. Does it stick ?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
We had a customer that pulled some 'whiskers' off of his cartridge... After that the cartridge never made another sound. After that he never did that again.
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
1,798 posts
 
Intriquing so I did some digging.
Example.
Lyra Clavis from Stereophile.

The Lyra Da Capo uses a "Ceralloy" composite
cantilever. Ceralloy is a metal reinforced with ceramic
"whiskers," which Carr tells me are stronger than carbon
fiber

Maybe Jcarr will come on here. A pic would be great Dan
but a call to the people that did the work should be made
if you are concerned. Don't go pulling anything just
yet......
in_shore's avatar
in_shore
337 posts
 
Some say that modified Denon IS the cats meow,...
More to discover