Should the Tone Arm be Removed When Installing Cartridge?

Normantaylor, you could do it either way but here are the considerations. 
You do not have a removable head shell. You have a very bouncy suspended turntable and three bolts and the tonearm board is off.
IMHO it is relatively delicate work made more difficult with a moving target. I would remove the tonearm board with tonearm and lay it on a towel to put a new cartridge in. It is safer this way with almost no additional work. It might take a big two minutes if that to unbolt and bolt on the tonearm board. Do not try to manipulate the cartridge wires with your fingers. Use small needle nose pliers or tweezers. The pliers are much better and you can probably get one at Harbor Freight for $2.00.

During my LP12 days, it was anathema to stress the tonearm bearings. Along with the many set up rituals with the Sondek/Ittok, this was one of the most enforced dealers' rules.

I guess according to Miller there would be 3 categories among us: audiophiles, sensible persons, and Linnies. We know the latter group are irredeemable.

i see merit in mijo’s approach, if you have an easily removable arm board and a non-removable headshell.


in my experience gimbal type tonearm bearings are not so fragile, given reasonable care. Many unipivots simply come apart at the bearing junction.

I own a Linn and am well aware of the Linn-advised paranoia about stressing or damaging the bearings. I supposed one *could* exert enough force on the bearings that they could be damaged, but - if one is careful and considers the kind of force exerted when mounting a cartridge on tonearm that is mounted on a record player - it should be easy to avoid. All it takes is care and thoughtfulness. I never remove my Ittok when replacing the cartridge. As others have mentioned, removing the arm and re-mounting it would be much more like to provide opportunities to damage the arm, the bearings or the cartridge. A little reasonable care is sufficient to avoid damaging the bearings... a review of some materials science suggests the strength of the steel used in the bearings should render it very difficult to damage the bearings - AS LONG AS ONE IS CAREFUL.
Obviously, just IMHO. And I expect those who were trained by Linn will be able to provide a counter-argument against what I’ve written above. Note that I am not trying to pick a fight with anyone. Just sharing my experience and what has worked for me...

You would have to hit the tonearm with a hammer to damage its bearings or more likely drop it on the floor. I have never seen a tonearm damaged in the process of mounting a cartridge. I have seen several bent cantilevers.