How long does a stylus last?

Observation of stylus condition via microscope, while better than guesswork, is fraught with problems. I have done this as well, using the Shure scope and photos. See the parallel thread running on Vinyl Asylum. The whole subject is problematic in that styli wear, rather than breaking, so the point at which the stylus is unacceptable sonically, may occur before mistracking. And this may be a judgement call as well. Tales of styli lasting 4000 to 5000 hours seem extremely optimistic to me. I'm sticking with 1000 hours average. We all would like our expensive investments to last forever, but it just ain't so.

...and the bottom line is that no cartridge has an "odometer" and you certainly never know how many hours it served especially when you're buying it through the internet.

Viridian. You have a point however, inspecting a used sylus under a scope will tell you a great deal about it's use or misuse. Styli that are not regularly cleaned or used on uncleaned vinyl will surely suffer a premature fate long before those that are cleaned regularly, not to mention mis-alignment, improper tracking force,overhang or azimuth. Perhaps this is how you arrived at a 1000 hour average or are you speaking about your own personal experience. While I would concurr with 4000 to 5000 hours being very optimistic or even unrealistic....one should easily get more than twice your guesstimate if proper maintenance and cleaning proceedures are excercized. My good friends 11 year old shure v15 mr sounds teriffic and still tracks like a champ.

That is how I arrived at my educated guess. And that is what an average means. I believe it was A.J. Van Den Hul who said that the life expectancy of his cartridges is 2000 hours, though I may be misquoting. These are expensive cartridges with line contact stylii that are babied by their owners, so really I don't think that, as an average life, I am that far off. The Shure is an unusual example, it tracks at 1 gram with a micro-ridge stylus. Name another cartridge that does. By the way, the suspension on my V15Vmr collapsed well before the stylus was shot. Personally, I would err on the side of excess conservatism, my Blue Notes and Riversides cannot be replaced, my cartridge always can. Remember, if I am wrong, I am buying new cartridges too early. If those who subscribe to the 2000+ hour lifespans are wrong, their record collections are compromised. Judge for yourself. Clearly, many who have weighed into this thread disagree with my thought process. To each his own.
Marty

Hey Marty. Well said,and your educated guess may even be much lower if one factors in all the variables in the real world. Hell,once upon a time I tore the sylus off a brand new denon 103d while cleaning the record with a brush! Cartridge life averaged out to be a big fat "ZERO" hours!!!!!! Lost a couple of good nights sleep over that one.