Needles & Grooves

The cartridge is the body and stylus as a whole, many carts can have the stylus upgraded and or replaced. When people say they are upgrading their cartridge it's meant as the entire component.............at least as I've always understood, someone can correct me if I'm wrong

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to upgrade just the stylus? Does the cartridge do anything besides just hold the stylus?

The body does a lot more, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish when you stylus needs replacing. The "cheap" route, replace the stylus, or if it's a cart that has a non-user replaceable stylus, send it in to be re-tipped at a discount. If you're looking for a new sound you can replace the cartridge with something else, or try a different compatible stylus, like the 8MZ on Grado carts.

I sent this to someone a while ago - Phono Cartridges Explained.

@Sonicpharmacist not every cart has a replaceable stylus. It's also a good excuse to try out a different "sound" as different cartridges all sound different and all have a sonic profile.

What a stupid question indeed. I just checked in here to make sure all the correct answers were being posted ....

I didn’t learnt nothing bc I already knew the things posted on here...

good job everyone for making sure some people learn a thing or two around here. I’m sure those people are really thankful.