26 tons per square inch

Some things have improved since 1954, one being that newer tonearms and cartridges track at much less VTF than ones back in 1954, and that decreases the weight exerted on the disc by quite a margin, only 4 tons for a modern stylus. That article was written prior to two channel recordings, so a lot has changed. Stylus life, the advent of RCM's. more advanced stylus shapes, you get the picture.

I like the part when they describe the stylus being able to vibrate up to 10,000 times a second which would allow for a 10,000 Hz frequency, how much has changed with new carts able to process up to 50,0000 hz.
 
But with the advent of line contact and elliptical styli wouldn't that have skewed the math on psi a bit? I've seen 90,000 psi quoted before.
 
Presumably the suspension absorbs most of the force, right? It's not like the needle is just being dragged across the record
 
I've had a stylus rest on the palm of my hand without causing injury. I am not going to try a 1 square inch object with 4 tons behind it. I have a hunch it would be rather painful.
 
I took a physics class in college where we had to calculate the psi at 1.5g tracking on a conical stylus. It was some really high number like what is cited above.
 
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