Headshell Washers : Nylon or Stainless Steel?

Whether there's an audible difference will of course be system-dependent. FWIW, it's clearly audible in mine. Your system isn't listed so I couldn't guess whether it would be audible in yours.

As to which is preferable, that's a matter of taste.

In my system, compared to using no washers at all:

- nylon washers cause an audible slewing of rise times (slowed responsiveness) and a diminishment of amplitudes (reduced dynamics). IOW, they smooth and soften the sound. This is a typical effect of applying "constrained layer dampening" close to the signal path.

- brass washers have an effect similar to nylon, though somewhat less pronounced

- stainless steel washers have virtually no audible effects

Since my partner and I prefer the most faithful reproduction of the source that we can manage, I use SS washers. I torque the screws quite tight and have never had an issue with them loosening. (Note: whether this is safe varies with the design of the cartridge body, some can be deformed or damaged by over-tightening of the mounting screws.)

If a true comparison is wanted, then you would need to use a torque driver, otherwise you won't know if any differences are due to the materials or the tightness of the screws.

As an aside, not only headshell screws, but other fasteners as well can affect the sound of an arm, even those which are not necessarily serving an obvious structural function, so lots of scope for those with a mind to experiment.

John
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I always use nylon so they don't scratch the headshell

Excellent feedback. Stanwal, your view echoes my own gut feelings on the matter. For years I've been trying to wean myself off the habit of making everything "Linn-tight" i.e. tighten it until it breaks then slacken off :D….So now I just "nip" them but it goes against my basic instinct.
Never had any bolts loosen on carts though….touch wood.

Dan - Initially I felt a bit foolish asking such a trivial question but the fact that someone out there has dignified my concerns by making a specialised tool is gratifying :)
It's always a worry when applying high tensile steel bolts to a tapped alum cart body as there's a real danger of thread stripping. Ortofon solves this by fitting tapped steel "cheeks" but then the Cadenza was the most recent case of bolt loosening I heard about. (…Not that I'm apportioning any blame to Ortofon or suggesting foul play :)
Changing the mechanicals is the type of update I'll try at the next cartridge change so it's good to get useful market feedback on the alternatives first. I never considered brass washers but an interesting choice nevertheless…..

Blk25 - Have no fears my friend….please accept my assurance if a particular method doesn't sound acceptable it won't stay on the turntable long.
You are right of course. I've long been resigned to the fact that there is a gulf between intellectual understanding and synergy (synergies internal to the equipment and in it's relationship to the listener's personal perception). In practice this means there is no easy route to audio nirvana and everything must be tested rigorously in the fire of our own acceptance. Narrowing down possibiIities helps but can only go so far. I wish I had a £1 note for every review which determined that a product or idea was good only to find that it wasn't good for the new owner. :)

Doug – many thanks for trying to quantify the effects. I only manage to listen for about 8-10 hrs per week so it usually takes me weeks to “re-optimise” the cart settings if I upset anything....hence I try not to disturb them once tuned. I will do the experiments after my current diamond burns out. The table consists of Raven One/Graham Phantom II/Lyra Delos at the moment.

John_G....I'd be lying if I didn't admit your response has got me worried. This is a blatant encouragement to the OCD side of my personality... :o)
All the best....