Removable headshells 101

I was around in the old days and always took the washers out. There is nothing wrong with detachable arms except lack of rigidity, which is arguably less important for MMs, which are inevitably themselves less rigid due to their replaceable stylus. I recently bought a Jelco 750 to use on my back up table, I hadn't had a detachable arm since the early 80s. When looking at older headshells look at ones made from cast magnesium [ like the Lustre] or similar rigid material rather than flimsy designs full of holes that were designed for minimum mass rather than rigidity. The ADC cast aluminum ones were quite good. I got sticker shock when I looked at some of the new ones and I have enough old ones to use anyway.

Like Stanwal I was also around in the (good) old days and
also took the washers out. But to be honest I forget the reason why... I also agree with my old mate reg. Jelco 750
wich has different names as well different price in different countrys (Sumiko in the UK and ? in Germany).
To my knowledge the best headshell for the price. If the money is not an issue you may look for those Orsonic or
(Clearaudio) Stability headshells.

Regards,

My knowledge is limited when it comes to discussions regarding headshells and I'm interested in learning as much as possible. Please feel free to pass on any websites etc.

I've just arrived here with a SAEC WE-308SX plus the 18gr ULS-3X headshell. I'm very excited but full of questions about almost everything. So, please if you don't mind to share your knowledge :
* Do you know any confirmed successful general rule for choosing the right HEADSHELL ?
* What matters the most for a successful CART/shell pairing
* How to choose the right combination of cart/shell/ARM ?
* What is the importance of the BUILD MATERIAL (between 2 headshells of equal weight) on sound reproduction ?
* Is it good to combine DIFFERENT materials for cart body/shell/armtube in order to break the resonances ?
* Is there any SEQUENCE of prefered materials following the transmition of the resonances ?
* Is there an UPPER LIMIT of the headshell's weight concerning the arm mass ? (if the counterweight can support it of course).
* How to recognize the good LIGHT WEIGHT headshell for your high compliance cartridge ?
* Any known excellent partners that is worth to mention ?

Dear nandric: IMHO the best headshell is the one that makes your/the cartridge really " sing ".

I have no preferences for headshell because some ones works great with some cartridges and " bad " with other cartridges even with the same cartridge but different tonearm a good one in one tonearm could be a bad one in other tonearm.

Resonances/distortions everywhere the tonearm/cartidge/headshell/TT/platform/etc makes almost imposible to predict the result between headshells and cartridges combinations. IMHO we have to try and decide through several tests.

So and in this subject said/say that this or that headshell is the best has IMHO no real foundation.

Remember that when an " important " persons/reviewers/guru in audio stated that this/that audio item is the way to go then we think is the best and when we have it almost always will sounds good for us even if not: we are prepared for that audio item sounds good way before we hear it.

Only our skill/experience/know-how level in audio could tell us what's " real " and what's only " illusion ".

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.