You're lucky in this case, as the MC-705 isn't one of Yamaha's own MCs, but a rebadged Audio Technica model, which belongs to the comparatively small number of MCs with replaceable needles - and these are still available from quite a few sources. And you've even got the choice between low and high output, as you can put either the ATN3100E/XE or the ATN3200E/XE needles on your Yamaha.
Whereas if you had one of Yamaha's own MCs, you could only try to get it retipped nowadays, as Yamaha doesn't make carts anymore (they quit that part of business ca. 10 years ago) and has also stopped the replacement programme, which was pretty much the same as what other manufactuers offered: Bring your old MC back to the dealer and take a new replacement home with you for quite a bit less than the regular price. And often enough one could alternatively choose to get a rebate on a better model, if one wanted to upgrade at the same time.
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
P.S.: How do you like your AKG K240S? For me, while I surely wouldn't call it the most neutral headphone on the planet, it nevertheless is one of the most enjoyable phones in my collection, and a very comfy one at that (unless one doesn't like pleather earpads...).
