OK.......I need more info on the Shelter 901......

helikon is rated to actually 0.5mV while shelter is 0.4. i prefere to use an ortofon t1000 step-up transformer.

I believe the Shelter 501 was imported into the U.S. and distributed by Sounds of Silence under the Crown Jewel name a few years ago. It got relatively favorable reviews from HP and Mikey.

At this risk of revealing my complete naivete, is this "cu" thing (as in low compliance = 9cu) the same as what my Goldring instructions call "internal resistance?" Or is it something else entirely? Otherwise, this Goldring scrap of paper refers to "static compliance," which in this case is 12mm (nothing to do with "cu"). Thanks for helping me clear this up!

Cp, no the cu is compliance units, and has nothing to do with your internal impedance. Compliance can also be expressed as (c)x10^-6 cm/dyn. The Goldring spec was given in the other metric version (c)um/mN. This is micro-meter/milliNewton. It is another way of saying the same thing. Just pay attention the the first number in these specs, that's what everyone refers to.(like 12, or 15, or 9, the numbers I represented with the (c) in my examples.)

Thanks for clearing that up, twl! I think I get it!