In regards to the head shell leads issue, I just did away with them completely.
When I rewired my stock Technics SL-1200 tonearm I drilled out the din connector at end of the tonearm and removed the connector (the black plastic insert)from the Technics headsheel. I then soldered the cartridges clips directly to litz wire fished the wires through the openning in the connectors.
I can still easily remove the headshell, by unclipping the clips, unscrewing the headshell and carefully fishing them through the opennings. Obviously this is a delicate procedure, but with a bit of care it can be done quickly.
As such I get the best of both worlds removable with the least connection points in the signal path.
You can see a photo that shows the end result on my "system" page.
When I rewired my stock Technics SL-1200 tonearm I drilled out the din connector at end of the tonearm and removed the connector (the black plastic insert)from the Technics headsheel. I then soldered the cartridges clips directly to litz wire fished the wires through the openning in the connectors.
I can still easily remove the headshell, by unclipping the clips, unscrewing the headshell and carefully fishing them through the opennings. Obviously this is a delicate procedure, but with a bit of care it can be done quickly.
As such I get the best of both worlds removable with the least connection points in the signal path.
You can see a photo that shows the end result on my "system" page.