Hope for ceramic cartridges?

[radiotvnut]

I would use mine; but, it still irritates me that an idler wheel cost at least $30 and a cartridge will run at least $20. So, you're looking at a minimum of $50 to repair most record players. I've heard of some people using a rubber "O-ring" to replace the rubber on defective idler wheels and I think I'm going to try it. I've got a beat up Airline kid's record player that I got for nearly free and fixed it with junk I had on hand; but, the idler wheel has a big notch in it that causes a "bump bump bump" sound as it turns and I'm not too thrilled about spending $30 for a new wheel. Up until a few years ago, there was an outfit called KMR electronics that sold parts for institutional A/V equipment. They had the old style metal 1490-01 idler wheels for around $5; but, that company has since went belly up. The only sources I'm finding for these idler wheels are the usual rebuilders that get around $30 and outfits charging insane prices for NOS wheels.