There is a guy on the Vinyl Engine, who forgot more about cartridges and stylii than you and I will ever know. And not only him, but others like him, in the business for years, and plenty of experience with the wide cariety of cartridges, and classics for the past decades, late 60's onward, and still very much into cartridges. He and the others have stated that High Power Microscopes, especially ones by Aidio Technica, Technics, and some others were a good way to examine the stylus. AS far as seeing any damage, or possible defects of the stylus tip, and wear pattern, but was not a way to gauge how much time has been put on a stylus, or how much time is left on a stylus. A microscope just was not designed to do this, they are as I said, for examination of the status of a stylus, to know if there were any obvious problems, that would or could be damaging your precious Vinyl. As to how long a stylus will last, in hours, there is no rule that 1000-2000, much less 3000 hours is the norm for the life of a stylus tip that is in proper use. Most I have read, have stated typically 500 hours, to possibly 1000 hours. There may be special, expensive stylii that claim 1000 to 2000 hours, but that is not the norm to anything I have read.
Also, while your having a good time poking fun, at the book "Good Sound" by Laura Dearborn....it was for many years a book that most audiophiles, during the real heyday of the 1980's and onwards would order from most of the Vendors that sold Cartridges, Equipment, etc...The Internet was not so popular during this time, or it would have been dominant there as well. There was a second Book published, for Home Audiophiles that was a thinner, in pages,Book that also sold very well. "Good Sound" covered every technical aspect of Turntables, Design, Setup, Tonearms, Amplifier/Preamps and designs of those, Speakers and Placement, also the Designing of these Speakers...it was a very detailed book. Even chapters on Tape Decks and Tuners even though these were on their way out at this time. I would not be without this book, and if you get a chance to get your hands on a copy, and look at it, I promise you, you will not be able to put it down. It does not focus as much on recommending Brands or any peice of equipment, but does have lengthy writeups, on the design and theory of theTop Dogs in this business from ever area. Such as Bill Firebaugh from Well Tempered, and VandenHul, Nelson Pass, Joe Grado, and so many more, like the owners and designers of these companies, Shure, Krell, Audio Research, Pink Triangle, George Merrill, Acoustic Research, Tandberg, Revox, Koetsu, and on and on...thes people comment on all aspects of Audio/Stereo and the design factors that they like in all areas, not just the things that they made, but all areas. Incedible Book, around 300 pages or so, or valuable knowledge. This is my most honest Opinion, and meant to be a help, and enjoyment for all people posting here. The amount of pages dedicated to just Cartridge Setup is amazing, and many little tricks that help in the setup process that save time, and mistakes that lead to doing things twice when not necessary. It also recommends many ways of buying items that are not the most expensive, but most reasonable. You would love the book, I promise you that. Ray
