New Technics SL 1200 GAE

I am really curious about the problem with the arm.  I would like Ralph to comment on why he is so opposed to this arm.  I imagine with a different headshell the stock arm could become significantly better than with the stock headshell.  The video on youtube from fremer really has me scatching my head to what Ralph is talking about.  The stock arm sounds pretty darn good.  I am not saying it bests a triplanar but I bet its closer than he would lead one to believe.

tzh21y

I imagine with a different headshell the stock arm could become significantly better than with the stock headshell.

I doubt that a headshell could make that much of a difference. Changing headshells might allow the cartridge/headshell combination  to result in a mass more suited to the pickup arm than the original headshell, and of course that could improve performance. But that's a setup issue. All other things being equal, changing a headshell alone is not likely to result in "significantly better" performance from a pickup arm.

If it changes the effective mass it certainly would.

tonearm wire leads also change the sound.  thats why people make changes in these areas on a regular basis

I know you mention significantly.  well sometimes the little things are in fact a lot