[soulforged]

Came across this while surfing - http://www.shure.com/americas/support/find-an-answer/stylus-break-in

Talks about breaking in the stylus by leaving it on a record without playing it for a couple of hours. Has anybody tried this?

[jsm71]

I ignore all protocols for breaking in anything other than just playing music with the new component.  Everything falls into place in time. 

I kind of like hearing the improvements, and sometimes a new piece will go beyond my expectations.  That's fun when that happens.

[Letitroll98]

The article is aimed at DJs and is so full of misinformation that I can't believe a single sentence in the entire article.  Except the leaving the stylus in the groove with the table off, or any flat surface really, for a few hours every day, letting gravity do it's work.  That actually might work well.  The rest of it is pure hogwash.

[soulforged]

I thought the same but wont it stress the cantilever? However I took a chance with my Shure M97xe yesterday. Not heard it yet, let's see if I see any changes...

[BobRex]

Keep in mind that you are really just breaking in the suspension, not the stylus.  And I have difficulty believing this is fully effective.  Yes, you are putting a load (stress) on the suspension.  But only in one direction.  When a stylus tracks a modulated groove (assuming it's in motion) the force comes in many directions simultaneously.  That cannot be simulated with a static load.

[soulforged]

Keep in mind that you are really just breaking in the suspension, not the stylus.  And I have difficulty believing this is fully effective.  Yes, you are putting a load (stress) on the suspension.  But only in one direction.  When a stylus tracks a modulated groove (assuming it's in motion) the force comes in many directions simultaneously.  That cannot be simulated with a static load.

My thoughts precisely! This might have an affect on the stiffness of the suspension but not really the multi-directional movement of the stylus which can come only through playing the records. The fact that the article was on Shure's site made it more weird...

[SteveFord]

I spoke to one of the big wigs at Ortofon here in the US some time back (his name escapes me) and he recommended leaving the stylus on a non-playing album to help loosen up the suspension on a new cartridge. 

I just ended up playing records, instead, but did listen to him on cartridge purchase advice (if you like the sound of the 2M Black stick with that or go with the Cadenza Black).  Cadenza was out of my league so I bought another 2M Black.

[toddc2]

My Lyra dealer advised me to let my new cartridge break-in by letting it run over-night in the run-off groove. I was a little worried about it but decided to give it a try and it seemed to work.

[rlee8394]

What Letitroll98 said!

Not good for the stylus to continuously run in the lead-out groove.

-Ron

[bacobits1]

Yes agreed. I wouldn't do that with any cart.
Dealer doesn't sound to knowledgeable for sure.
Run!