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Removable headshells 101

Due to the influence of Raul's thread on MM cartridges, I believe that some of us (perhaps for the first time), have acquired a tonearm/s with a removable headshell?
In my case, there was a vacuum of knowledge or information about what makes a good headshell and for the last 6 months a great deal of my time and effort has been expended in acquiring personal hands-on experience.
Perhaps a Forum to share experiences will help new adherents to this once denigrated (by the High End) segment of tonearm design?
halcro

Showing 2 responses by pryso

pryso
1,970 posts
 
Nandric, what is your source that the Orsonics now being sold are made in China? I recently purchased a "NOS" AV-101 and if it is a gray market copy, someone did a pretty good job. The fit and finish are high quality. Also, the standard box is marked MADE IN JAPAN. If I can find a friend locally who owns one old enough to be confident it is an original, it would be interesting to compare mine to see if we can find any differences.

I bought the Orsonic because I needed a headshell with a little more mass and I thought it had a long-standing reputation for quality. Henry's observations seem to be contrary to other users over the years. Unfortunately the arm I will use is not mounted yet so I've not had the chance to try my Orsonic.
pryso
1,970 posts
 
Thinking further on this, it seems to me that any headshell with such poor structural integrity that one could "actually see the shell convulsing", then it could be twisted (albeit slightly) by hand as well. I mean, how much energy does the stylus/cantilever generate as it traces the groove?

The Orsonic I purchased appears to be very rigid, at least to attempts to twist it by hand.

Now I'm not suggesting that Henry and Raul are wrong about the lack of good sonic qualities. But I am inclined to try it for myself before discarding it -- and yes Raul, with a few different cartridges to see if I find a match.
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