Seems we have an inverse parallel with turntables. You went from Technics to Rega and I went the opposite. For me it was a matter of speed drift and feedback with the Rega that sent me to the 1200. And with the ability to change cartridges with easy VTA and anti skate adjustment makes it a breeze to swap. Hope you go back to it. You'll be buying more cartridges for sure.

I'd tend to guess that high contrast lighting rather than diffused would help in resolving the facet shaped on the stylus. If that's possible.

Hope you get satisfaction with that new stylus too. I bought a stylus from LP Gear years back when I purchased a Stanton 981 HZS from KAB. The stylus was listed as a replacement for the cartridge and was around $100 bucks. I could never get the thing to sound worth a hoot and thought maybe all the fuss about this cartridge was unfounded. I wanted to send it back to LP Gear, but months had gone by and they refused. I ended up with a Pfanstiehl stylus from Voice of Music which for twenty some bucks lets me know how good this cartridge really is. Some day maybe I'll spring for a premium from Jico. But this cheapo 2x7 elliptical sounds pretty good.

Hi Wayne, I use a stylus scope...actually they are designed for other things but work great for this. Many of the ones that might seem to be useful for this are really glorified toys. I went through three until I found one that really did the job right. I would have to look up the brand though as it isn't marked on it. Additionally, you will need a stable and accurate stand for it. Most that come with the low cost scopes are pretty wonky. Observation is not quite as easy as it seems as the thing you are looking at is quite small and in a location that often makes high magnification difficult. Lighting is key as well. I find that an external light source from the side is often more useful than the lights in the scopes. Send photos when you get some.