Now many hours does a stylus last?

[SY]

So you compare the 1st and last tracks on a side, when the quality loss is unacceptable, time for a new stylus.

Careful, that's also a sign of misalignment.

Yes, 150x is a good magnification for examining styli. The little handheld pen-shaped "stylus magnifiers" are worthless. I use a nice moving stage binocular microscope.

 

[Salas]

Careful, that's also a sign of misalignment.

If the cartridge has not been wrongly reinstalled recently, how can this be?