Tell about your experience with your old Audio-Technica SL-1200s..

My SL 1200 MK2 came with a cartridge on an Ortofon SH-4 headshell and I bought another and tried a generic headshell.  I haven't tried a Technics headshell.  I've been using the lighter (10 gram) version of the Zupreme. 

85 bucks seemed like a lot to spend for a headshell, but when I looked at it the other way and asked myself why I was connecting cartridges that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to wires in a cheap headshell, it was worth giving one a try. 

The Zupreme is engineered for rigidity and lack of resonance (according to their marketing material) and more importantly, appears to use much higher quality wires.  I'm not a big "cable guy", but with those small signals, I believe wires do matter.  I'm not an engineer or an electrical engineer, so take all that with a grain of salt. 

My cartridges do sound better on the Zupreme headshells.  

@bikerbw I think you're referring to the Technics overhang gauge when you say "alignment tool"?  It's not that hard to hold the overhang gauge next to the cart and eyeball it and get it reasonably close. 

The only cart I still have on an Ortofon headshell is my Hana SL.  I have a Zupreme waiting for it, I just haven't changed it over yet.  I'll see how it goes and if I remember, I'll report back.  Right now I'm really enjoying the Soundsmith Aida II, so it may stay on the turntable for a while.

As far as the Goodwill LPs - yeah, you won’t find much if anything good if they’ve already been put on the racks. The only way you have a chance is grab them when they’ve been wheeled out from the back and are sitting around, waiting for someone to put them on the racks.  The serious people watch for the carts to come out and pounce on them.  

I tried to get the Zupreme to work, but never could get it dialed in. It sounds so much better now with a silver Technics head shell that I’m afraid to touch anything until I figure out why. I spend a good amount trying to get all of the adjustments right. 

All these shells are aluminum, the main difference is weight and wires. Zupreme made by Jelco. Some other headshells made of magnesium, titanium, wood… One of the cheapest and best new headshells is AT Technihard series (fully adjustable).

There are so many great headshells made in the 70s/80s, my favorite are AudioCraft headshells, they made heavyweight too. Grace carbon-fiber headshells (HS-6) and Grace HS-8 are amazing. Ikeda headshells with overhang adjustment are very nice. Stax made lightweight headshell with azimuth/overhang adjustment. Denon made some nice headshells, Sony made nice headshells. Pioneer made carbon shell. This is the one from Kenwood for example. Technics made Boron-Titanium headshell for the EPA-100 mkII tonearm (unfortunately missed on my tonearm). There are many others. Basically, every manufacturer made their own headshells or ordered them from other manufacturers.

@bikerbw If it ain't broke, don't fix it!  Enjoy the music.