I am an idiot !!!

Allan, that really is unfortunate,  having just read thru your profile I think you can be forgiven, hopefully the insurance will pay up a second time, fingers crossed. 

No, this is not a record... I had a brand new Dyn XX2  on my Rega deck  some years , thought I would give the plinth a quick dusting as the TT fired up for the first play of my brand new cartridge.. You guessed it, microfiber towel snapped the cantilever straight off. I was gutted..I think i may have actually fallen to the floor in disgust and disdain for my own carelessness. 

My dealer sent it off to Dynavector and they replaced the cantilever, at a cost of course. So that may be the record...

ATB,

Mark

Somewhere buried deep within this forum are the collective tales of how I destroyed

1. A Van Der Hul One

2. Linn Karma

3. Koetsu Black Gold Line (two of them!)

4. Dynavector Ruby Karat 23D

5. Dynavector Diamond Karat 17D

6. One LInn Ittok

7. Syrinx PU2 (two of them!!)

I am yet to destroy a CD player. 

Oh no!  I pranged my Apheta 2 at about the same time you had your first mishap and also claimed on my insurance.  Since it was replaced I have been very very careful indeed.  So sorry you have had this happen again!

A painful read but one that does make me feel very slightly better about collapsing the stylus of my brand new Dynavector 17D mk2 while trying to install it on my Aro. But, mind you, only very slightly better and I have never forgiven my Aro.

Allan,

You may be unwittingly providing a valid economic case for a vinyl lover to move to streaming .

My greatest concern for a stylus mishap is during cold, dry weather when the felt mat of my RP6 tends to cling to the bottom of an LP during changes. The mat can randomly drop back onto the platter off-center and potentially sweep across the stylus. The static shock when touching the tone arm is a good warning for this condition.

Thanks all, feeling a little better today although isn't it funny that when you don't have something (i.e. the turntable) you get a strong urge that you are wanting to play vinyl today ...

Wenger2015 - was my own fault, can't claim for that!

Mark - ouch

Ron - this sounds like it could be a TV series!
Can you send me a link to this thread - I can't use the search function on the forum very well due to accessibility issues with my screenreader
... this is not to gloat  you understand, but it might make me feel a little better

Dayjay - I have learnt too and will be much more careful in the future.

Clay - Yep it happens to us all; never did this to the old cheapo cartridges with removeable needles though!

Joerand - I get this with the mat too - have learned to be very careful taking off the vinyl and checking for the sticking mat before it comes all the way off. I usually take off the vinyl in a direction away from the arm so haven't ever touched the arm with the mat although it did get in the way once and make me drop the vinyl to the floor ... great rage! Zerostat doesn't seem to help either

If this ever happens again then I will have to move to either a cheaper cartridge or one that can be repaired - can't have a cartridge that's costing me £120 a day!

sigh, oh well, I'll just have to sit back and listen to my UnitiServ and wait for my dealer to install the new Krystal next week.

Happy listening and may all your cartridge woes be little ones,
Allan

Allan

I'm sorry about your second new / not so new now cartirdge. 

As a small consolation - a small tale of destroying a preciousvinyl:

Got this precious, original pressing in NM condition of a certain LP. Off to my vinly cleaning machine. Placed it on a deck, cleaned one side. As I was taking it off and about to flip it over, the static somehow made it slip from my had quite violently. It went accross the vacum arm, creating a rather perfect deep scratch accross most of the groves. 

Took me 1 minute to change it from NM to perfectly unplayable. 

Adam

Allan Milne posted:

Joerand - I get this with the mat too - have learned to be very careful taking off the vinyl and checking for the sticking mat before it comes all the way off. I usually take off the vinyl in a direction away from the arm so haven't ever touched the arm with the mat although it did get in the way once and make me drop the vinyl to the floor ... great rage! Zerostat doesn't seem to help either

The situation described by Joerand, lifting the mat off with the LP, is one which I encounter frequently and it gives me the willies every time. I was wondering if  a Zerostat might be the answer, but you say not. I guess even if you zap the disc with a Zerostat prior to retuning it to its sleeve each time, as soon as you dust it with a (so called antistatic) carbon brush prior to playing it gets charged again. Generally I now try to avoid brushing before playing and instead rely on occasional cleaning on the Okki Nokki. 

I occassionally zap the mat as well. Does help. 

Adam - my heart goes out to you,I hope you got another pressing.

 I don't think it is the brushing that causes the static since I brush every disk before playing with my old Deram brush and some disks the mat sticks, others I have no problem. The worst offenders seem to be the new disks I get from Amazon or the Jazz at 33... series; my old disks don't seem to be so static.

I'm not saying that the Zerostat doesn't do anything, it does seem to reduce the problem but certainly doesn't cure it although I don't use it as a regular part of my spinning ritual - perhaps I should.

I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs trying to decide what to play on the US (see another thread) ... can't make up my mind so I'll have to take the dog out for a walk instead ... oh hurry up with that replacement cartridge please ... if only vinyl didn't sound so good !

Allan

PS - my wife is being really good about it all, thank goodness

I actually use a contraption called Zerostat 3 Milty - a gift from my dealer. 

The new vinyls can be really charged and dirty. Probably a hangover from fast cooling at the plant.

My cleaning ritual is as follows:

* Zap them with Zerostat before cleaning

* Clean on my Clearaudio Smart Matrix using Hanl x2000 - this one is particularly good at getting the grease out. 

* Zap it again with Zerostat before putting in a brand new MoFi sleve. I zap the sleve inside before putting a clean vinyl inside

Sounds a bit obsessive but ot works. Don't even have to brush the records before playing. 

Adam Zielinski posted:

I actually use a contraption called Zerostat 3 Milty - a gift from my dealer. 

The new vinyls can be really charged and dirty. Probably a hangover from fast cooling at the plant.

My cleaning ritual is as follows:

* Zap them with Zerostat before cleaning

* Clean on my Clearaudio Smart Matrix using Hanl x2000 - this one is particularly good at getting the grease out. 

* Zap it again with Zerostat before putting in a brand new MoFi sleve. I zap the sleve inside before putting a clean vinyl inside

Sounds a bit obsessive but ot works. Don't even have to brush the records before playing. 

I hope you talk to them as well....

wenger2015 posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

I actually use a contraption called Zerostat 3 Milty - a gift from my dealer. 

The new vinyls can be really charged and dirty. Probably a hangover from fast cooling at the plant.

My cleaning ritual is as follows:

* Zap them with Zerostat before cleaning

* Clean on my Clearaudio Smart Matrix using Hanl x2000 - this one is particularly good at getting the grease out. 

* Zap it again with Zerostat before putting in a brand new MoFi sleve. I zap the sleve inside before putting a clean vinyl inside

Sounds a bit obsessive but ot works. Don't even have to brush the records before playing. 

I hope you talk to them as well....

Mostly latin words which cannot be quoted on this forum without being immediately moderated and getting banned for life

Adam Zielinski posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

I actually use a contraption called Zerostat 3 Milty - a gift from my dealer. 

The new vinyls can be really charged and dirty. Probably a hangover from fast cooling at the plant.

My cleaning ritual is as follows:

* Zap them with Zerostat before cleaning

* Clean on my Clearaudio Smart Matrix using Hanl x2000 - this one is particularly good at getting the grease out. 

* Zap it again with Zerostat before putting in a brand new MoFi sleve. I zap the sleve inside before putting a clean vinyl inside

Sounds a bit obsessive but ot works. Don't even have to brush the records before playing. 

I hope you talk to them as well....

Mostly latin words which cannot be quoted on this forum without being immediately moderated and getting banned for life

Brilliant 

Adam Zielinski posted:

wenger2015 posted:

I hope you talk to them as well....

Mostly latin words which cannot be quoted on this forum without being immediately moderated and getting banned for life

But...   Res plus portens sonat cum in Latine dicat.

Huge posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

wenger2015 posted:

I hope you talk to them as well....

Mostly latin words which cannot be quoted on this forum without being immediately moderated and getting banned for life

But...   Res plus portens sonat cum in Latine dicat.

Indeed! Pulchra lingua Latina est.

Allan. Please try not to be so hard on yourself. Ask anyone who plays vinyl and chances are they've bent a cantilever on the cartridge or sometimes just whisked stylus and cantilever clean away through means of a wooly jumper or similar..  You're just annoyed, but i am sure you are no idiot.

Commiserations Allan. I requested after your first incident that you keep us updated on how you get on with your Krystal but this isn't what I was expecting to be honest. Best of luck with the replacement and the request still stands. 

ATB

Mike

Clive B posted:

Allan Milne posted:

Joerand - I get this with the mat too - have learned to be very careful taking off the vinyl and checking for the sticking mat before it comes all the way off. I usually take off the vinyl in a direction away from the arm so haven't ever touched the arm with the mat although it did get in the way once and make me drop the vinyl to the floor ... great rage! Zerostat doesn't seem to help either

The situation described by Joerand, lifting the mat off with the LP, is one which I encounter frequently and it gives me the willies every time. I was wondering if  a Zerostat might be the answer, but you say not. I guess even if you zap the disc with a Zerostat prior to retuning it to its sleeve each time, as soon as you dust it with a (so called antistatic) carbon brush prior to playing it gets charged again. Generally I now try to avoid brushing before playing and instead rely on occasional cleaning on the Okki Nokki. 

I use a Zerostat, but I find it a bit hit and miss. If you're worried about the mat lifting off, why not just put a couple of squares of double sided tape under it? Works like a charm.

I have never damaged a cartridge.But a couple of months ago was cleaning my LP 12 took the lid off and it was resting upside down on the carpet.I then gave the Linn a good dusting etc.I then stepped back only to crack the lid down the back.£150. For a new one at retail at my dealers.......ouch !

Richard Dane posted:

wooly jumper

Good catch phrase for the static clingy felt mat scenario

The fashion for really exposed cantilevers must be responsible for quite a few extra sales.

You have to try really hard to kill a 17D before it wears out though I see someone has managed it. The cantilever is tiny (1.7mm long) and tucked out of the way underneath and disappears up into a recess if clobbered hard enough. I've bounced one across a record several times since I got an Aro, I did leave the last 17D2 in the centre groove before going on holiday for 2 weeks and come back to a ring of swarf, I didn't even bother checking the cartridges condition after that and traded it on a 3.

Talking of idiocy, my other close call was managing to connect the output from a superlines supercap back into the cap loading socket, this potentially fed line level into one of the cartridges coils (a £3000 proteus in this case). The pins are arranged such that you feed the difference between the two channels into one coil and miss the other completely, The record I put on first was some solo piano (Ingrid Haebler playing Schubert impromptus) and if not a mono record there wasn't enough stereo to either fry the coil (1 ohm resistance in a proteus) or apparently affect the magnets before I realised something wasn't right and lifted the stylus to investigate.