Cartridge ISOLATION; What Say You?

There are Head Shells available from very reputable Brands with R&D backing their deigns being marketed.
Magnesium Metal milled on the Top Face to receive a damping material is a Head Shell Design that I use.
I am wondering if the Cartridge Separator as a Interface is a lead on from this type of design philosophy.
I am quite familiar with the offerings from Japan and am not aware of a Separator Material being offered by the Brands that I follow.
Is this something that has been missed by them in their R&D, or is this something that they are not able to add any value to their design intent by going down this road ?  

The Separator Devices usually seem to appear on a sales list from fringe Companies offering accessories, and usually at quite High Prices.

I know the exact same material offered by the Cartridge Man was available in Australia for about 70% less ? than the UK price. 

The Houdini Separator entered the Market with a mixed response, and the time spent undertaking Searches and Investigations of the reports are showing that in general it is not always seen to be the ideal interface, and in some cases even though given an approval on initial use, after extended use and trials, it has not been a keeper device for the user.

Possibly a more secure purchase and one that might prove to be a device that commands a long term usage of the device, might be discovered in trying a selection of different Head Shell Materials.
At the least these devices are very saleable once used, and can be discovered as a used sale for a reasonable outlay.
I have sold Head Shells within a few hours of their being advertised without any need to arrange a Sale Price with the buyer.

As said previously a lot of change to the presentation and sound quality is available to be had with a Platter Mat Change.
IME I am still coming to terms with how a 5mm Forex Foam mat that cost approx $12 is my mat of choice for most listening and is against competitors up to $450.
A Forum Member has took the initiative and purchased a Forex Foam Mat and they have recently informed me their Tenuto Mat is resting up on the Album Stack, they are in no rush to reinstate it.      

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For only a $40 investment, I bought the Enabler for my $5k turntable with a $4k Soundsmith Paua cartridge. It works and work well. I found it to provide more focus and control without losing any soundstage. It also minimized any thumping going through my speakers when tapping on the plinth with volume cranked. I was convinced enough of its Audible benefits, that I bought another one for my wife’s $1600 tt with a Hana MH MC cartridge. Results were also immediately noticeable for the good on that tt too. I also like the bonus of being able to tweak the tonearm azimuth when using the Enabler.

Enabler Quote:

" The material is similar to a good gasket material, flexible and robust."

Who laughed disparagingly at my idea of digging out my sheet of gasket material for a home made try? I can try one or a few layers.
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VTA Refinement

If VTA needs refinement in an arm with no adjustment, I would NOT rely on one side tighter: rather very thin sheets of rigid material on one side, like clear rigid plastic page protectors, cut your own rectangular shape, make notches for bolts. Enough layers to solve it: very tedious, dexterity needed. I like more surface area than round washers.

Hint: I stay calmer when I don't have an audience, otherwise I misbehave seeking sympathy rather than dealing with it.

Then, if using an Enabler type, a material with designed vibration dissipation, I would want firm tightness on both sides.

TRY IT Home Made?

Enabler is 1 mm thick I think, I'll start with 1mm of my gasket material.

The Acos Lustre GST 801 arm has the easiest/smoothest VTA on-the fly ever, as well as removable headshell type arm.

I'm gonna get ready, get Arne and Bill over here (that might take a while to coordinate), have a listen together.

I currently have two active MC Cartridges that I like a lot: Goldring Eroica LX Gyger 2 on aluminum and Audio Technica AT33PTG/2 MicroLinear on Boron. (they both use the same loading on the SUT as well).

And, a few MM cartridges mounted in headshells, Shure V15VxMR body with Jico SAS on Boron; AT440ml MicroLine on aluminum. And, my Elliptical: Shure M97xe aging somewhere, or did I give it to my photo friend Bill with my old AT120 TT? (he lives in Vestal NY near McIntosh and Audio Classics). I digress.

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Platter Mat:

After preliminary decisions, I'm also gonna mess this up with alternate platter mats:

1. Existing OEM JVC thick heavy rubber mat
2. Rigid Acrylic
3. Deerskin

With and without the JVC rubber below. Acos solving height changes instantly!

So many interesting points.

Question, is it not the job of the cantilever to function as suspension along with transferring the vibrations to the motor of the cartridge?

No, the only job of the cantilever is to transfer stylus motion to the generator at the other end. The cantilever is really just a shaft, a stick, sometimes a pipe. Cactus needle, in the case of Ledermann and Schroeder.   

Usually somewhere along there the thing runs through a donut of rubber, or elastomer if you want to get fancy about it. That donut, together with whatever it is mounted in that holds it in place, is the suspension.  

In which case, shouldnt it be the only thing that is vibrating/moving?

Yes, but how you figure that is ever gonna happen? Nothing ever moves without making everything around it move. Stylus moves, cantilever moves, suspension moves, and this same thing continues right into the cartridge body, head shell, arm tube, arm bearings, arm base, plinth..... This is the whole point of using special material like the Enabler to help minimize all this harmful vibrating.  

If the cartridge is also suspended, would that not remove the accuracy/immediacy/directness of the transfer of energy - as the place where that energy should go, would be damped. In being damped, seems like the energy transfer would be reduced.

Correct. That is why it is so helpful to distinguish between people like me who are carefully explaining the precise nature of decoupling, and those who leap to all kinds of unwarranted conclusions. 

To wit:

The cartridge however is very low mass and has to track a violently undulating groove. It cannot just be free to move. It must be held rigidly, but yet also in a way that facilitates some vibration to dissipate into the more massive arm, while damping cartridge vibration, and all of this at the same time as not reflecting vibration right back down into the stylus. 

One to remember. Watch for when they over-simplify the complex. Seriously, watch! It is fun, because for sure fifteen minutes later they will be over-complicating the simple!