The stylus is one of the most important components of your turntable. People looking to buy this kind of equipment don't usually pay much attention to the turntable stylus, yet it remains an essential part: a poor stylus reduces sound quality and keeps you from getting the most out of your system. The turntable stylus is what makes it possible to play a vinyl record. It converts the mechanical engravings of the record into electrical signals, which are sent to the phono preamplifier. With repeated use, the stylus wears down and therefore needs to be replaced.
Replacing your turntable stylus
Our website www.maplatine.com offers a range of styli for turntables, sold on their own or with their cartridge. The stylus is fitted to a phono cartridge, which is itself attached to the turntable's tonearm. You can buy all of these parts on our website, from our selection of the best products on the market. The turntable stylus you buy will let you get the most out of your records and enjoy the favourite tracks of your vinyl collection. Installing a cartridge or a stylus on a turntable is very simple and requires no particular technical skills. If you do run into any difficulty, you can read our guide "How to change the stylus on a phono cartridge" or contact our customer service team, who can advise you on fitting the equipment to your system. We also sell replacement styli for damaged cartridges on turntables. With a wide range of references, there is a suitable turntable stylus for every budget.
Stylus wear, replacement and compatibility
- Tonearm
- Headshell
- Cartridge body
- Stylus (removable on an MM cartridge)
- Cantilever
- Diamond tip
- Record groove
Signs of a worn stylus
A worn stylus can be heard first, then seen:
- sibilants ("s", "sh") that spit or sound harsh;
- distortion on loud passages, especially at the end of a side, near the label;
- less defined treble and a veiled sound;
- a stylus that skips or slides across the groove even though the turntable is correctly set up;
- under a magnifying glass, a blunt or chipped tip, or a bent cantilever.
A worn stylus does more than degrade the sound: it also damages the grooves of your records. It is best to replace it as soon as the first signs appear.
How often should you replace your stylus?
Stylus life depends mainly on the tip profile. As a guide, Audio-Technica gives the following figures for its styli:
| Tip profile | Approximate stylus life |
|---|
| Elliptical | about 300 hours |
| Conical (spherical) | about 500 hours |
| Shibata | about 800 hours |
| MicroLine | about 1,000 hours |
These figures vary with how clean your records are and how the tracking force is set. A conical stylus used one hour a day, for example, reaches the end of its life after about a year and a half. Regularly cleaning your records and your stylus extends its life: see our cleaning products for cartridges and styli.
Compatibility: MM or MC cartridge?
On an MM cartridge (moving magnet), the stylus is removable: you pull off the old one and slide the new one onto the cartridge body, without removing the cartridge or redoing the tonearm settings.
On an MC cartridge (moving coil), the stylus is generally not user-replaceable: the whole cartridge has to be replaced. Some brands offer an exchange service, and maPlatine.com runs cartridge trade-in offers.
A replacement stylus is designed for a specific cartridge model. Some ranges, however, share the same body, so you can change the sound simply by changing the stylus. For example, the six styli in the Audio-Technica VM95 series are interchangeable, and the Ortofon 2M Red stylus also fits a 2M Blue cartridge. If in doubt, note the exact reference of your cartridge before ordering.
Replacement styli by brand
Browse all references in our styli section.
The best of vinyl, stylus included!
Service is our priority at www.maplatine.com. All the products we sell are covered by a warranty, and an efficient after-sales service is there for you if you have any problem with your orders. Delivery takes just a few days, wherever you choose, and we cover the return costs for any order you are not satisfied with. So buy a stylus for your turntable quickly and easily on our website, and enjoy the best products on the market.
