As there have been a few questions about Ortofon stylus life lately, we would like to set some facts straight.
Understandably, there had previously been some confusion as we had once issued a statement claiming 600-1000 hours for stylus life. This, unfortunately, was regarding the lifetime of tipped or bonded type diamonds which are found primarily in the cartridges we manufacture for DJ use.
However, according to our designer and engineers, HiFi cartridges with Nude diamonds can expect to far exceed 2,000 hours with proper care and maintenance. The precursors to this lifespan are as follows:
1. Proper care must be taken to ensure the proper alignment, tracking force, and azimuth of the cartridge during setup.
2. Appropriate vinyl care must be exercised regularly in order to keep each record free of dust, record release compound, record sleeve residue, and other contaminants.
3. The stylus must be gently cleaned without the use of solvents, directly before and after each record side is played.
Another consideration to be made is that the diamond stylus will begin to exhibit physical changes after approximately 1,000 hours. This is a feature of all diamond styli from all manufacturers, not uniquely ones used by Ortofon. To a degree, the usability of cartridges in the thousands of hours becomes a personal preference rather than an absolute.
Lastly, Ortofon does not use cultured (synthetic) diamonds.
We hope that this information has cleared up any former confusion.
Regards,
Ortofon
