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Testing the Yamamoto HS-4 Carbon Fiber headshell.

Received the Yamamoto HS-4 Carbon Fiber headshell today and tried it on my 12" Jelco 850L. I guess this is a common upgrade path for many Jelco users so I succumbed to temptation.
Turntable is a modified Garrard 401 in a slate plinth on a maple and concrete support with new third party bearing, platter and idler.
I tested it with my Decca "Garrott Brothers Microscanner" Gold with new line contact stylus and Decapod.
Three records were played. Ketty Lester - Love Letters (1962), Cole/Davinport/Tate/Dickenson - French Festival Nice France 1974, Buddy Tate - The Great Buddy Tate (1981).
I played sample tracks from the records before swapping the standard magnesium Jelco headshell out. From the first needle drop using the Yamamoto, there was a soft grey veiling. Not a great start. There was definitely greater depth and improved bass - I could hear the kick drum pedal hitting the skin in a very specific location and acoustic bass was well delineated and easier to follow. Soundstage was more of a wall of sound with greater height. I remember the same effect using grey plate Sylvania Gold 5751s once which are acclaimed but not to my taste. Female vocals didn’t have the articulation and airy projection I normally experienced and it was that which forced me to stop going any further and I duly put the original shell back. The greyness was gone, replaced by a transparent black background and what I can only call a vast increase in precision and focus. I deliberately didn’t mention the mids and highs with the HS-4 simply because they were compromised and wholly unsatisfactory. With the Jelco, the tremendous detail returned: The color and metallic shimmer of cymbals, the beauty of vocal inflection, instruments speed and clarity. Piano hammers sounded fast and believable. But most importantly, dynamic range now soared with startling realism. That bass drum is not as clearly evident and it is the one area I’ll give to the Yamamoto. Make no mistake though, this carbon fiber headshell was an enormous fail for me. I can only assume the material imparted its soft plasticky sonic signature onto the music. Not recommended.

128x128noromance
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
There are, say, two different categories: 1. who knows better and
2. who hears better. 
If I would dear to say this, considering edgewear warning , I
would say ''don't mention the M...'' but I don't  because of the
 moderators.  
The ''other category'' is more complex because there are  more candidates  for the title. As an democrat I would say : choose your own from the ''Aussie list''  in his thread ''hear my Cartridges''.

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
I bought the latest incarnation of Boston Audio mat made in collaboration with 47 Labs (Sakura Systems). This model called The Mat. It is perfect for Luxman PD-444 platter. I am comparing it to my SAEC SS-300, but need time for comparison. I do not agree with noromance catigorical statement. 

Regarding carbon headshells i know many, i like this one from Grace, it's carbon-fiber. Nothing new here, it's from the 80's. I like this design much better than any Yamamoto.   
billstevenson
368 posts
 
I had a very similar experience.  My turntable is a Technics SL1200GAE, headshells compared are the one sold by LP Gear as the Zupreme (which I believe is the Jelco headshell) and the Yamamoto HS-4S carbon fiber.  You have done a much better job than I could of describing the difference in sound in favor of the metal headshell.  At least to my ears, with my arm, and the cartridges that I have experience with (Cadenza Black, Winfeld, Experion).  It is certainly believable, however, that with different arms/cartridges etc. that the results could be reversed.  The lesson to be learned here is that it is not possible to draw universal conclusions about the many variables in our hobby.
noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,859 posts
 
@nandric I've been listening to, and participating in, @halcro cartridges comparisons. One of the most valuable outcomes of that wonderful thread is that we all pretty much agree on the results. If that is true, then, why are we hearing such differences with these components?
noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,859 posts
 
Thank you @billstevenson
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