What a great question. I eagerly await the answer. The last time a replaced my cartridge it had stopped working! It sounded like a 78 through a 2 inch speaker in a windstorm.

Trey

If it still sounds good to you there is no reason to change it out. If you are not noticing a channel imbalance or an extreme decrease in output level it is probably fine.

If you have a magnifying glass you could look at the stylus yourself.

Considering that a nwe Shure M97XE is only $89, if it worrys you, that is what I would do. AD did not really care for the new version of the Grado Gold...for what it is worth.

I was about to answer: When the cart starts to sound bad, change it, but I wonder if it has already damaged some records by then?

How nice it would be if cartridges came with an hour-meter built in!