Detachable Head shell or Not?

Raul - I tend to not be fond of the word, best.  The use of superlatives often gets us in trouble.  Even when we refer to one product over another as better, this too is often not easily quantifiable.  When I compare products, I think of preference, and at that moment.

I talked again with the tonearm dealer today.  Two weeks ago he gave me the rundown on the sonic and setup differences of the tonearm he had for sale vs. two others that I asked him about.  He had been a dealer for one of those.  It all came down to preferences, the word best never came up.

The dealer told me the tonearm mount ring on my TT's tonearm tower is chrome-plated aluminum.  As the bottom of the tonearm is metal, he suggested an alternate to machining the existing mounting ring.  He felt that metal on metal was not a good coupling.  Initially he considered inserting a 3mm wood shim here as provided by the tonearm designer. But today he suggested to machine a new mount altogether.  He talked of different wood materials and other boards made of multiple materials sandwiched through a high temperature process.  I shared the evolution of my system, my sonic preferences years ago and now.  This lead him to suggest a couple of boards to match with my preferences.  Again, we never talked about best.

With all the discussion here on tonearms, removable head shells, cable from cartridge to phone stage, etc., the discussion today with the dealer made me aware of the relevance of mounting board materials. 

After I live with he arm and cartridge change for a week or so, I will tweak the arm's parameters per the dealer's suggestions, listen more and repeat another time or two and then leave it alone.  Once I become familiar with the changes, I will cycle a few IC's and PC's in a couple places.  And who knows, I might prefer another of my cables in a link that was not preferred there before.  😊 

It is difficult to see where the benefits are for the mechanical interfaces on the Tonearm using the methods suggested by the Tonearm Dealer you are in communication with.

I fully agree that a change of, or addition of materials, in an assembly, at an interface where parts are fastened to each other within the assembly of the devices on the TT, will introduce a change to the Sonic Signature offered.             The discovery to be made is if the change is a desirable outcome for the end user, changing Plinth Mounting Methods, Headshells and Platter Mats can also offer perceptions of changes being created in the Sonic Signature offered by the assembly.

Whenever there is a junction between two different materials it creates a reflection boundary which in this case would be trial and error to learn of the impact of the reflected energy at the interface.

It is a improved engineering / design consideration, to sink the energy through the arm and into the bearings and propagate to the plinth with the most efficient management of the energy transfer through to the plinth, where the energy will dissipate.

 

Dear @jafox  : Agree with you, does not exist the " best " on ay audio item. All about is which " one " fulfill our MUSIC/sound priorities.

Btw, the arm board is really important to damp not only vibrations/resonances coming from the TT/plinth,/tonearm but the ones coming in the " air ". If the arm board does not damps very well then the feedback that always is generated will affects the quality sound level we are listen it.

R.

It is difficult to see where the benefits are for the mechanical interfaces on the Tonearm using the methods suggested by the Tonearm Dealer you are in communication with.

For my TT setup, the arm sits on a tower (cylinder) adjacent to the platter.  There is no plinth.  The top of the platter is 57mm above the top of the tower.  A disc, essentially the armboard, attaches to the top of the metal tower.  The height of the armboard is machined to achieve the nominal distance from top of the armboard to platter as required for the selected tonearm.  The dealer told me that this distance is nominally 30mm for the selected tonearm.

I fully agree that a change of, or addition of materials, in an assembly, at an interface where parts are fastened to each other within the assembly of the devices on the TT, will introduce a change to the Sonic Signature offered. 

Exactly as explained to me by the dealer. 

Whenever there is a junction between two different materials it creates a reflection boundary which in this case would be trial and error to learn of the impact of the reflected energy at the interface.

He described the sonic differences of various boards he has machined for customers and his own setup. I have no desire to painstakingly try many armboards to find the ideal material for me.  I can leverage off his knowledge and experience to provide advice to me, the customer, as to what material will work with my system and sonic priorities.

He said I could try the existing metal disc I have, with or without a thin wood shim, and see how that works out.  Based on all he shared with me, I had no desire to do this.  And he said that metal on metal will result in an exaggerated top end with added "detail" which does not appeal to me.

Ultimately he suggested one of the exotic hardwoods for my setup.  He said that after I give this a serious listen, and if something is "not quite right", we can discuss further; he would send me a different board to try.  Customer service does not get any better!  The end result with what he sends to me in a week will be far beyond what I have ever had on a TT.

I have a Sumiko MMT arm with 4 detachable headshells: two for Koetsus, one for a Benz, and one for a Grado for 78s.