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Headshell leads and Arche headshell

I just received my Arche headshell. Definitely the best looking headshell that I have ever seen. I have been trying a couple of headshells, Phasetech and Ikeda with my Air Tight and FR64s and I did not like the result all that much in comparison to Reed. However, today, Air Tight with Arche headshell and FR66s sounds very very promising.
However, one problem that I have is headshell leads.
I have Oyaide, Ortofon and Ikeda silver leads that are all quite thick and stiff. I think the lead pins on Arche headshell may be a bit thicker than usual and it was really difficult to insert the headshell leads properly and I broke a few leads in the process :( Took me about an hour to finally fit all 4 leads then I found a new problem. The thick silver leads put enough force on the cartridge and kept pushing down the mounting plate essentially affecting SRA angle. As I understand it, the screw on Arche headshell can push down mounting plate for more SRA but there is no mechanism to fasten the mounting plate tightly against the headshell.
Finally I gave up on using those thick silver leads and just using Sumiko coppper leads for now which is so light and flexible that it virtually exerts no pressure to the mounting plate. Now the Air Tight/Arche/FR66s sounds great but I am wondering if there is any good silver leads that are flexible that would not cause any problem with Arche headshell?
suteetat
thuchan
1,009 posts
 
Suteetat,
better use the Ortofon Silver leads you may also get from their online shop.
They work pretty fine with the Arche.
Ikeda leads I had the same problem, they brake easily at the end.
suteetat OP
435 posts
 
I have Ortofon silver leads as well and still have problem with its stiffness. I think the problem is worse for Koetsu because of the long body and relatively small room between
end of cartridge and headshell lead terminals. Silver leads just does not like to stay bent and exert quite a bit of force back at the cartridge. Since Arche mounting plate is basically attached to headshell through a hinge, headshell leads kept pushing mounting down at an angle always.I can't keep it perfectly parallel to the headshell.
For Koetsu, I really need something softer than silver leads, I think. All 3 that I have, Oyaide, Ortofon and Ikeda are all very stiff. I just found Acrolink 8N copper headshell leads that looks promising. If it sounds as good as its 8N phono cable, I think it should be ok. Too bad, I really like Oyaide silver lead wires but it just does not work with this particular setup.
downunder
1,329 posts
 
Whatever happened to the thread on the Axiom tonearm? Deleted , why?
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