Hear my Cartridges....🎶

Can you HEAR a Headshell.....?

YAMAMOTO HS-4 CARBON FIBRE HEADSHELL

FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-3 HEADSHELL

@halcro 
@frogman 

Re headshell comparison.

Yes.
Apart from the qualifier that, for me, MM cartridges are like green eggs and ham.
So with my mac air & Air buds circa 2012..

With the FR3 shell I can hear the initial rosiny striking of the bow on Ottos violin. This initial strike is lost with the Yamamoto. To me in general the violin sounds quite congealed in the upper mid lower treble on the Yamamoto.

With the harpsichord, I can hear more of the key strike on the strings, and more acoustical space around the individal notes with the FR3.

The FR3 to my ears presents a more robust and developed upper base lower mid, particularly when the full orhestra comes in - more weight.

FR3 a clear winner on this comparison.

I'll leave frogman to provide the technical analysis. I suspect he might find the FR3 a little coloured like the FR7 cartridges - be interesting to hear his view.

As an aside did you know Audiosilente does an aluminium screw for the FR3 - I assume this would reduce the mass somewhat.

Have you tried the newer Ikeda heashell IS2-T with the titanium collar, I have the older one that came with my Ikeda Kiwame cartridge, it has quite a robust sound that works well with some cartridges. I used it on my Dynavector from time to time.

Unfortunately I don't have the playback tools and/or the golden ears of dover and frogman to make a valid judgment call on these audio files. But it's nice that others acknowledge the merits of the FR-3 headshell. For some reason it has a bad rep with several members of this community. It's clunky and looks decidedly old school, but I like the way it sounds, especially with FR64S. Robust and meaty are indeed words that come to mind. Same with the slightly less bulbous FR-S/5. But perhaps I'm biased as I really dislike carbon fiber headshells like Yamamoto or Oyaide, both of which I tried.

For threaded cartridges the later FR RS-121 and RS-141 are also recommended, while for unthreaded cartridges I've always had great results with the Audiocraft AS-4PL and AS-12K headshells.

@dover I have several versions of the Ikeda IS-2T headshell (2TB, 2TW and 2TCR) and they are better than the regular IS-2 as well as the earlier IS-1R series. The T's are the most neutral headshells I have tried so far. They're a perfect match for the 'high precision' school of cartridges, like Transfiguration and MSL. But for my Ikeda 9 Rex I kept the IS-1G in place, simply because it looks so pretty. 

Wonderful music and lovely performance!

In simple answer to the question, a resounding YES. Frankly, I am surprised by how different the same cartridge sounds in each of the two head shells. I am not sure about the “golden ears” part 😊, but the differences are pretty obvious.

I am in complete agreement with Dover in that the FR is the clear winner in this comparison and I agree with his specific observations. Not to put too fine a point on this, but I would also have to stress “in this comparison”. I will explain what I mean, but first to add to Dover’s excellent comments:

The sound with the Yamamoto head shell is simply too dry. There is a “bleached” quality to the overall sound and upper strings in particular sound too thin and borderline steely compared to how they sound in real life. There is a “hashy” (“congealed”?) quality to the upper strings that tends to, as Dover observed, mask the initial attack of the harpsichord. Likewise, the lower strings, lack a bit of tonal meat on the bone. Surprisingly, the push-pull of the tempo in the players’ phrasing is more
obvious with FR. On the plus side for the Yamamoto is that probably as a result of its dry quality, pitch definition is perhaps slightly better in the lower registers.

The reason I would stress “in this comparison” (mostly speculation):

I am not a fan of AT/Signet cartridges (nor most MM’s) as far as their rendering of tonal quality/timbre goes. The sounds of live acoustic instruments have quite a bit of natural color. Sometimes what some listeners describe as “neutral” or lacking in coloration to me is a sound lacking in that natural color; “bleached” sounding or having what I would describe as a “gray” coloration. In spite of their other positive traits I would put AT/Signet cartridges in that camp (Shure’s, worst of all in my experience).

Having said all that, Signets have never struck me as cartridges that are thin or steely sounding; quite the contrary; if anything, lacking some natural high frequency sparkle and color. So, why that type of sound in the Yamamoto head shell? At the same time, why would a cartridge that tends to sound gray and colorless (in a negative sense) sound more naturally colorful in the FR headshell?

Dover suspected that I might find the sound with the FR “colored”. Actially, I find the sound to be pretty close to my sense of what tonally correct is. However, he may be correct in that I also have a suspicion that a cartridge like my “vintage” Koetsu Rosewood which is inherently romantic sounding might in fact sound unnaturally “colored” in the FR, but might benefit from what is possibly the Yamamoto’s inherent dryness.

“It’s all about synergy” says Princi 😌

Interesting as always, Halcro. Thanks.