Most of the stuff that you read on the net is total crap - particularly the stuff that I write. But there are lots of threads about the eee and I don’t see any that have issues with body ageing (though I have this problem with my body), a recent one:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/stanton-681eee-nos-or-replacement-stylus.788696/
But no, I have not owned one since they were new, which probably goes a long way to explaining my body ageing thing. So I can’t speak to ageing in this specific cartridge, though I do have a couple of very old 500s and two Pickering XV15s that seem fine as well.
Aligning a cartridge without VTA provided by the arm is easy if you are looking for negative VTA, raising the front of the arm up. You can do this with thin cardboard circles under the mat, or a thicker mat, or a million other ways.
But if you need positive VTA, if the back of the arm needs to go upward you are now going to be canting the cartridge by putting something between the headshell and the front top of the cartridge. This method also causes most of the cartridge body not to be in contact with the headshell giving up some of the damping qualities inherent in an intimate contact. The other possibility would be finding a thinner mat, if that would create enough of a change to get you to the correct height, and not change the damping of the platter itself a significant amount.
Neither method is particularly amenable to very fine adjustment of VTA though, however, as you point out, it is more than possible given enough time and patience. I have done it many times, but can’t really recommend it.
