The Ortofon 2M78 Stylus is a replacement for your existing Ortofon 2M Mono or 2M 78 cartridge. It features a stylus profile suitable for playing wider 78 RPM shellac record grooves. 

You should upgrade your stylus when it starts to collect a lot of dust after each playback or when you notice some distortion and channel separation during listening. 

We find with proper care, up to 1000 hours is possible without degradation of performance. To get more hours out of your next stylus, consider a Clean It stylus brush or Vinyl Clean compound to compliment your new stylus purchase.