Supposing perfect alignment, wouldn't you say conical stay on the groove better on worn records then? I ask out of curiosity, as my fine line iwas bent from the get-go (my fault), but it still sounds better then my Ortofon 3E and my Stanton trackmaster conical, with the only caveat that it skips.
ALso, my poor attempt of VTA alignment and a close pic of my (very) dirty ML
Well, I am afraid it is treatment like this that gives analog worse name than it deserves.
A simple dab of the dirty ML in picture in nothing more fancy than water moistened Q-tip would produce "almost" clean looking stylus - given the proper choice of lighting, even at this rather low magnification, the Micro Ridge/Edge/Line features would be clearly recognisable.
The reason why the stylus got so dirty in the first place is record hygiene. And , there is NO better place to start with record hygiene than a new, never played before record. The mould release agent/grease/oil/callitwhateveryoulike is an integral part of the vinyl material that gets pressed - meant to be released on the record surface while it is being removed from the mould/stamper.
This layer of oil/grease/callitwhateveryoulike , once it performed its intended role of releasing the just pressed record from the stamper, continues to :
1.) As it is electrically speaking an insulator, it supports building up electrostatic charges
2.) Because new records ARE very heavily electrostatically charged, they attract dust particles from the air - clearly visible in your VTA picture.
3.) When stylus hits this sludge of grease and dust, it creates noise > generates more static buildup > attracts more dust > causing static discharges between the surface of the record and stylus cantilever or even cartridge body > which can cause in extreme cases VTF changes of up to about half a gram > causing mistracking ...; in reality, the definition of a vicious circle ad nuseaum.
Taken together, playing records as they came from the factory is the shortest way to destroy them, while "enjoying" in surface noise NOT recorded in the groove, ticks, pops & all the undesired unmentionables pleaguing the analog record playback.
In extreme cases, that grease/oil/callitwhateveryoulike present on new record can cause "aquaplaning" of light tracking ( below 1.5 gram ) styli ... - to the point of skipping the grooves ! I would have never believed it if it did not happen to me recently - on a at least 30 year old pressing on de facto new never played NOS Virgo Intacta record pressed in Germany. A totally "clean" looking, undamaged record would simply jump grooves until being properly cleaned - THEN it played superbly, even with a cart tracking below 1 gram ...
I did intentionally put this hygiene part on the top of my answer. It is a fact that cleaned record WILL sound better using lesser cart/stylus than a new dirty one using superiour stylus/cart. And, most importantly, the cleaned record will preserve its quality for an incomparably longer time.
Regarding stylus tip profiles - the higher one goes up from conical to Micro Line, the more precise alignment/adjustment is required. Conical is safe for the records - even if grossly misaligned - simply because no matter how it is aligned in the groove, its contact surface with the groove walls remains almost the same - meaning it can not damage the groove ( provided it does not mistrack, of course ). With anything more closely resembling the cutting stylus, the requirements for ( listed from the most important to the least ) increase :
1.) Azimuth
2.) Zenith
3.) Lateral geometry
4.) VTA/SRA
So, advising somebody possesing an otherwise great TT that does not allow for the PRECISE Azimuth and VTA/SRA adjustments ( or the inability or unwillingness to adjust these parameters if the equipment allows for it ) to use a line type or even VdH/Gyger/Micro Whatever/SAS stylus migh well be counterproductive.
There is a reason Denon DL-103 survived in producttion for by now almost 60 years - as it is very forgiving cart regarding the alignment, as it uses a conical stylus. There were more advanced versions of the 103, but they appeared and went - the basic model is , after all these years, still going strong. Unlikely to get discontinued, as long as record playback will be in sufficiently high demand.
Regarding used/damaged records being played by various stylus tip profiles ... - sorry, ANYTHING that has large scanning radius not long enough to effectively "bridge" the damaged part of the groove is not going to work. As I wrote before, it takes at least VdH/FG II and above to accomplish that.
Provided that these styli are perfectly aligned/adjusted , of course.
PS: No idea how the pics here can get uploaded ... - any help ?