How much difference do lower mass cartridge clips make in playback?

N O N E !

Curious question based on ''essentialist world view''. One can state
in general that the most are worthless. The best are ''Clearaudio''
but pretty expensive. Aka : meant for the best cart/headshell combo.
Mitchel ''silver kind'' are similar but ''softer'' qua grip. Also pretty
expensive. So while we have ''endless'' choice of cables we hardly
have choice for clips. Despite all the stories about importance of
signal path. 

Some direct questions can distract from even more important
questions. I mean the problem of tonerarms with fast headshells.
Those are probably made for masochist. By each cart change,
not to speak about broken clips, one will ask himself : my God
why deed I not buy an arm with removable headshell? Well my
consolation is that one need only 4 of those Clearaudio clips.

Hi,
regarding only material i would go with gold, silver or rhodium plated as they do not corrode over time compared to brass or copper. Soldering strength and construction is a different issue as is wire purity.

I could imagine that the less flexible, stiffer headshell wires may vibrate more than Litz types. Likewise, slightly loose clips may resonate causing distortion. I’d like to try a single strand of pure silver wire wrapped in silk. Better construction -even if slighty heavier- should give you a better result.