Nice one, Richard. You're welcome – looking good, mate!

It just shows what a few tiny bits of wire and a headshell can do, eh?

The Cardas leads really do make a difference, and it will give you an inkling of what to expect when you have the arm fully rewired. I can't stress enough how the stock wiring really does hold back the arm's performance.

Once fluid damped (this is the next mod I'd recommend you carry out after the rewiring) with the new headshell and leads, and counterweight balance, the sonic ability of the arm will be in a different league. Trust me, you will not feel inclined to 'upgrade' (and I use the inverted commas deliberately!) it to a Rega or a Tecnoarm

You are welcome to hold on to the Zu headshell until your Sumiko arrives so you can enjoy the improved performance it's giving and compare it to the Sumiko. You may prefer one over the other (they are slightly different) and like I said it's always handy having a few spare quality headshells.

You're right, the effect of the brass counterweight balance is more subtle but you'll find that once your ears are attuned to the way the arm presents music with it in situ, going back to the standard item is a definite downgrade. You will sense a certain 'magic' missing in deck's musical presentation.

Furthermore, the one I sent you is a bit of a ‘mish-mash’ of ones Thruno made for me until I got the mass right. To hear its maximum effect you need to have one made to compliment your Dorian so that the c/w balance is butted up as close to the pivot point as possible, which at the moment it isn't. However, like the headshell, you're welcome to keep hold of it for as long as you need.

Have fun, enjoy your tunes, and keep us posted of any new developments!



Marco.