yet another KAB mod question

Another question for all you Technics experts: are there any cartridges you would NOT recommend for use with the SL1200 tonearm? For example, I have a Benz L2, a Denon 103R, and a Koetsu Black. Will I get good performance from each of those on a KAB SL1200?

On the one hand, I can't exactly say because I've only tried 3 carts on my Technics and they all worked well. On the other hand, I now have the KAB fluid damper and have played around with the compliance/effective mass equation to see what theoretically will work.

First, the fluid damper lowers the resonant hump of cartridge/arm interaction considerably.

Secondly, with the removable headshell, headshell weights, and the additional counterbalance weight, you can play with the Technics tonearm's effective mass to get a better match with a given cartridge's weight and compliance.

For example, I went from a Shure M97xe (6g, compliance of 30) to a Denon DL-160 (4g, compliance around 10-15). But I put it on a Sumiko headshell, which weighs 3.5g more than the stock headshell. It's an excellent match, and the fluid damper seems to help.

I would love to try out an Ortofon Contrapunkt, but that would have to drop into my lap from the sky right now. With the Sumiko shell and fluid damper, I bet it would sound great.

Is anyone bothered by the fact that the fluid damper blocks the indicator for the VTA?

I typically set the VTA by sight (tone arm parallel to the record) and by sound, so the I don't really need the indicator. I agree with Tvad that the benefit is worth the minor inconvenience.