StylusTimer Review
Today we have nice little gadget to review. It is called the StylusTimer.
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This device is used to measure the number of hours your stylus (needle) has been in use. If you are a vinyl and turntable enthusiast, you probably know you need to replace your stylus every 1000 working hours. Some styli need to be changed even more frequently.
It is a very common thing for a turntable owner to not know when it is time to change the stylus because he/she doesn’t have an approximate time that a particular stylus has been used. For keeping track of this time, you have a great tool: StylusTimer.
Here is what the device looks like:
The features of this stylus timer are:
- Tracks Cumulative hours of use (flashing H indicator)
- Remembers time when battery was changed
- Prevents accidental reset (Hold down the Reset button for 3 seconds to reset the StylusTimer™)
With StylusTimer, you can:
- Know precisely how many hours are on your stylus or cartridge
- Track break-in hours and changes in sound quality over time
- Protect your record collection from damage from a worn stylus
- Know when it is time to replace or upgrade your stylus or cartridge
- Maximize your investment, especially important with high-end cartridges
- Track time on your turntable drive belt
- Track tube time with vacuum tube components
- Have fun watching the hours climb, tracking your listening habits
You can see it looks great in a brushed metal finish and has an integrated stand. The neutral design allows it to go well next to any record player. Once you learn to appreciate the value a StylusTimer brings to your audio setup, a turntable without StylusTimer next to it will look incomplete!
This device allows you to maximize the use of your high-end (and expensive) stylus / cartridge while also protecting your beloved vinyl collection. This timer only needs to save one record or prevent the early replacement of a stylus once and it will have already more than paid for itself.
Brief StylusTimer instructions:
We recommend a two-handed approach for simplicity and to quickly train yourself to start and stop your StylusTimer each and every time you play a record. You will find it to be an intuitive, coordinated process that quickly becomes part of your record playing routine.
Here’s my personal routine
- Put your StylusTimer to the left of your turntable.
- Set the stylus above the lead-in groove, then put your right fingers on the tonearm cuing lever and your left fingers on the StylusTimer
- As you lower the arm with your right hand, push START with your left hand
- You will hear a beep and the H will flash to show it is recording hours
- At the end of playback (or if playback is interrupted) when you raise the arm with your right hand, press STOP with your left
- You will hear two beeps and the H will stop flashing
If you want to time your usage with extreme precision you can press START when the stylus actually makes contact with the record. Cumulative hours of up to 9,999 can be recorded.
Always remember that StylusTimer record hours, not minutes. Also, if your turntable will automatically return the tonearm level at the end of a record, you will have to pay attention to stop the StylusTimer as well. Again, as this records in hours, not minutes, differences of a few seconds / couple minutes will not be too relevant. However, you don’t want these small differences to add up to several hours.
StylusTimer requires one AAA battery to operate(not included).
The MSRP of this great device is only $19.95 and it is available directly from StylusTimer.com
or if you prefer, from Amazon:
- Know precisely how many hours are on your stylus or cartridge -Track...
- Track break-in hours and changes in sound quality over time
- Protect your record collection from damage from a worn stylus
- Maximize your cartridge investment, especially important with expensive...
- Have fun watching the hours climb, tracking your listening habits
