Pleasantly surprised

[Tarzan]

One of the things l enjoy about the stock Techie arm is the detachable headshell- and also the sheer musicality of it, anyway, l have three different headshells, 1 Sumiko with Nagaoka MP11O, Sumiko with Stanton 520, and for a laugh l put my SME V upgraded headshell leads in my stock Techie headshell which has also a Stanton 520........ holy crap, what a difference some decent headshell cable makes! If someone had told me how much better it could be l would have politely laughed and walked away... l really am gobsmaked, now do l get a Oyaide headshell?

[Cliff]

I know a lot of guys here favor the Oyaide, but I am going with the Yamamoto HS-1As, which has is their ebony headshell ( I tend to favor wood over synthetics) AND has the soldered headshell leads, thus further streamlining and purifying the oh, so important and oh, so delicate phono signal chain.

Similar thought lead to my special request rewiring of my Techy tonearm, eschewing the RCA connector junction box, Also read some recent comments on another forum from a guy experimenting with headshell leads. He consistently preferred the soldered leads.
Gonna give it a whirl.

The Yammy is reported to be a very synergistic match with Denon cartridges, which is how I will use it, though some would argue it needs to be heavier.

Cliff

[Tarzan]

Hi Cliff, does the Yammy headshell work with budget MMs, etc

[Cliff]

Hi Andy, I haven't gotten mine yet, but I see no reason why it wouldn't.
The 1as that I plan on getting has the soldered headshell leads and is a little more expensive than the 1a which has standard removable leads.
The 1a has been described as having a slightly warmer, fuller response, especially in the lower midrange, than some other headshells.
I am excited about the soldered leads version which I think is a good idea.
Again, but i plan on using mine with MC cartridges.

Cliff

[Cliff]

Just wanted to update this little thread as the info might be useful to someone else.
Got the Yamamoto HS-1as ebony headshell with captive/soldered leads for my stock Technics tonearm, finally.
Sounds great, everything I expected and hoped for. The greater thickness than the Techy headshell helped VTA with my Denon cartridge; I think I have it spot on now.
Only problem is that the slots on the headshell for cartridge mounting don't extend quite as far forward as in the Techy headshell. This was a problem with my Denon DL-A100, and would be with any 103 based Denon, maybe all Denon cartridges.
Using the Technics alignment tool, I couldn't get the cartridge perfectly aligned no matter how I tried, just wouldn't quite reach far enough. But I got it really close and it sounds smashing anyway, so I am happy.
Might try to work on the slots a little to extend them about a millimeter.
Or might just listen to more records and forget about it.
Cheers,
Cliff

[Tarzan]

Ok cheers Cliff, the Yammy and 103 could well be next on the hit list.