Then maybe try to explain better. I can’t see a quote from vdH in your post, this is what you wrote
And then you continued to complain about cartridges being designed with planned failure rates
Edit: Or is that whole posting a quote from vdH? The maybe you want to mark it somhow so that it is comprehensible.
Whatever it may be there is a complaint that cartridge manufacturers make the wires too short to make them fail. OK. Nevertheless, other manufacturers lilk Rega state 1000 hours for the diamond, so I would have to know what this manufacturer’s recommendation is, before I comment on it. They might argue that they saved weight and you are not supposed to use it longer, anyway. I don’t know, and you don’t provide details.
And whatever the case may be, I don’t think you have shown why the 637 is so much worse in for such poorly designed cartridges than playing music for a 1000 times longer time.
I still don’t understand what it has to do with the 637 specifically. OK, so the wires can break when done badly. Vibration increases this likelihood. I don’t think, however, that you have shown evidence that the vibration of the 637, for such a shot amount of overall time, is so much worse than a record vibration. Which is fine, but then don’t demand that I prove things beyond doubt
Agreed, but this is true for everything. For fluids, for brushes, the jury is still out for the gel pads, etc.
In my humble opinion the evidence for this is not very convincing and there are few hard facts on either side. Please stop acting as if I make things up and you provided just facts. It’s simply not true
Personally I see no need - it’s ok to disagree and to point out where one sees holes in the other person’s arguments. This is how progress is made. And like ricsimas pointed out, it would make the thread a mess for future readers, should anyone be sufficiently unlucky to wade into it
Anways you kind of won and I just had the DS Audio TS-50 gel pad delivered today. Works very nicely and easier to lower the stylus onto it as it is less high (so can use the lift) and larger. I’ll keep the 637 just in case for occasions it might be needed, but having the DS is a clear improvement, so all ended well - thanks for the food for thought!
I’ve just ordered some Audio Technica AT 617a cleaning gel similar to Onzow but because it’s made by AT I decide to try it so I’ll let you know how I get on.
There’s a number of us in the Kabin who have now switched to AT617a. It’s very effective for removing visible dust, particularly the stubborn bits that seem to get wrapped round the back of the stylus.
Using it with an Aro (which has no cueing mechanism, of course) makes for quite a challenging cuing manoeuvre. I had feared that I’d lift it up to find a cantilever sticking out of the gel, but all’s fine so far.
