Stylus Mounting
Stylus mounting describes how the diamond tip is attached to the cantilever, the small arm that carries it. It is usually specified as nude or bonded.
This is separate from how the cartridge itself attaches to the tonearm.
Stylus Mounting — Cartridge
A nude stylus is made from one piece of diamond fitted to the cantilever. A bonded stylus has a diamond tip attached to a metal shank, which is fitted to the cantilever. Bonded is also called tipped.
Removing the added metal carrier can reduce moving mass and help the stylus follow the groove. That does not establish which complete cartridge sounds better.
In “nude elliptical diamond,” nude describes mounting, elliptical describes the contact profile, and diamond describes the material. “Elliptical diamond” alone leaves the mounting unspecified: both nude and bonded versions exist.
Sources
- Phono Cartridges guide: nude and bonded construction — Audio-Technica
- Cartridge guide: tipped and nude styli — Ortofon
- VM Cartridges: nude and bonded elliptical styli — Audio-Technica