Vinyl Asylum

Posted by bill_stevenson@bellsouth.net (A) on March 16, 2017 at 07:42:16

In Reply to: RE: Yup, that may be a tad optimistic. Nt posted by Jack D II on March 14, 2017 at 19:36:25

The Ortofon position concerning fluids on the stylus (Disclaimer: I am not an employee, nor have any other affiliation with any of the companies mentioned herein and what follows is my viewpoint and not official information). Ortofon has been consistent in their concern that some fluids contain solvents that can attack the elastomer used to suspend the cantilever in their cartridges. This has been so for decades and Ortofon's position is across their entire product line. Interestingly enough, other cartridge manufacturers use the same or similar polymers and do not share the same concern. Audio Technica even markets (or did at one time) a liquid stylus cleaner. In any event, Stylast is not a cleaner and although the formula is proprietary there is no reason to assume that there is any solvent in it that would be harmful to the polymers used to make the elastomers found in phono cartridges. For a product that has been on the market for decades there seems to be only praise for Stylast. As others have said, use it sparingly as directed and you should have no trouble. Too, I think it prudent to be more cautious with the use of the the company's Last Stylus Cleaner, which clearly is a solvent.

Edits: 03/16/17