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Cartridge mounting woes

I purchased a new Hana ML cartridge, and intend to mount it on a "vintage" Empire 698 turntable. The 698 head shell is configured so that the cartridge used thereon must be bottom mounted. Before I ordered the cartridge, I checked with Musical Surroundings, and they indicated that while the Hana screw holes are through-threaded, the ML could be bottom mounted.

I picked up an assortment of M2.5 screws to mount the cartridge, and it turns out the screw heads are too wide to fit into the cartridge screw slots. My research indicates that this will continue to be a problem with other M2.5 screws out there on the market.

Have any of you folks encountered an issue like this? If so, how did you solve it? I've been thinking that maybe headless M2.5 screws (grub screws) would do the job. I'd surely appreciate any ideas that don't involve buying a new tonearm or turntable! Thanks in advance.

128x128ho249

Showing 1 response by dover

dover
2,186 posts
 

 

@ho249 

If the through holes in your cartridge are threaded then you cannot use it with the Empire head shell.

The reason is very simple - if you have the Empire shell with captured threaded nut that cannot be rotated and the cartridge is threaded it is not possible to get a tight fit unless you can rotate the cartridge - which you can't  because you need two screws.

You can only fit a cartridge with a non threaded through hole in that head shell - musical Surroundings should have known this - its basic mechanics 101.

 

 

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