Tharbamar
Active Member
Hi, I've been upgrading analog department in past 2 months for my main system.
Never thought of upgrading headshell leads for my turntable until past few weeks because I thought replacing small lead wires are not going to improved the sound over stock leads but I was wrong, headshell leads does matter!
I'm using Denon DL-80MC with DP47F TT.
So I bought Shure, AudioTechnica AT6101 and custom made Pure Silver & Gold Plated Wires and Clips.
SHURE Leads: These are just plane and simple thin lead wires, out of the box I thought it was good improvement over 20yrs old Denon leads, clearer sound is noticeable right away but not as rich or good imaging as original Denon leads even after a few favorite albums and 10+ hours of playback does not improved, it is thin, flat and dry sounding leads in my system.
So I went ahead and removed it, while I'm doing that clip on blue lead broke on me and it is very thin cable and not a good quality cable, I'm not complaining it's only $7.95 with hardware kit on Amazon.
In my opinion: not even as good as original Denon leads, which I'm going to deoxit and save it for future use.
Audio-Techica AT6101: This AT6101 leads are widely used and very popular upgrade in Asia but Audio-Techinca does not offer it for sale here in the U.S.A. mostly import from Japan and very reasonably price good quality 22 core strand PCOCC (Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting Process) leads. I paid $10.81 on Amazon, which I think is bargain for these leads because everywhere else is selling it for more than $20.
AT leads are much thicker wires than Denon or Shure leads, I did struggle a bit to get them in between my cartridge and headshell pins, it is very tight fit and I thought I already broke something in there while I'm trying to connect the pins but turns out okay.
In my opinion these are the must have leads for all of my turntables because they're very good quality lead wires and sound is full and juicy with great authority, very good low frequency response etc., These are the leads that everything I was looking for but not the greatest in resolution as some expensive silver lead wires can offer but for $10.81 I have nothing to complain about.
I would wholeheartedly recommend AT6101 to anyone who is looking for headshell leads.
My next headshell lead wires are custom made with two 28 gauge gold plated copper wires & one 28 gauge, 99.999 pure Silver solid core, “dead soft” wire, three wires were braided together and solder to gold plated machine clips.
Custom Silver & Gold Plated Leads: I use AT leads for about two weeks and very satisfied with sound quality of the wires but I found this guy on eBay selling custom made silver/copper leads for very reasonable price and I thought I want to give it shot and turns out it was superior cable and better in every way than AT6101.
Airy, Articulate, Attack, Balance, Crisp, Detailed, Dynamic, Imaging,Musical, Naturalness you name it everything is great I can't ask for more. One of the best upgrade I have ever done and it is a truly perfect headshell leads for my need.
I'm a very choosy and very detail oriented person but there is nothing I can complain about these custom leads other than tight fitment to my headshell pins.
Just a happy buyer, No affiliation with the seller.
If someone wants to know I would gladly share the information thru PM.
Happy Listening.
Steve
Never thought of upgrading headshell leads for my turntable until past few weeks because I thought replacing small lead wires are not going to improved the sound over stock leads but I was wrong, headshell leads does matter!
I'm using Denon DL-80MC with DP47F TT.
So I bought Shure, AudioTechnica AT6101 and custom made Pure Silver & Gold Plated Wires and Clips.
SHURE Leads: These are just plane and simple thin lead wires, out of the box I thought it was good improvement over 20yrs old Denon leads, clearer sound is noticeable right away but not as rich or good imaging as original Denon leads even after a few favorite albums and 10+ hours of playback does not improved, it is thin, flat and dry sounding leads in my system.
So I went ahead and removed it, while I'm doing that clip on blue lead broke on me and it is very thin cable and not a good quality cable, I'm not complaining it's only $7.95 with hardware kit on Amazon.
In my opinion: not even as good as original Denon leads, which I'm going to deoxit and save it for future use.
Audio-Techica AT6101: This AT6101 leads are widely used and very popular upgrade in Asia but Audio-Techinca does not offer it for sale here in the U.S.A. mostly import from Japan and very reasonably price good quality 22 core strand PCOCC (Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting Process) leads. I paid $10.81 on Amazon, which I think is bargain for these leads because everywhere else is selling it for more than $20.
AT leads are much thicker wires than Denon or Shure leads, I did struggle a bit to get them in between my cartridge and headshell pins, it is very tight fit and I thought I already broke something in there while I'm trying to connect the pins but turns out okay.
In my opinion these are the must have leads for all of my turntables because they're very good quality lead wires and sound is full and juicy with great authority, very good low frequency response etc., These are the leads that everything I was looking for but not the greatest in resolution as some expensive silver lead wires can offer but for $10.81 I have nothing to complain about.
I would wholeheartedly recommend AT6101 to anyone who is looking for headshell leads.
My next headshell lead wires are custom made with two 28 gauge gold plated copper wires & one 28 gauge, 99.999 pure Silver solid core, “dead soft” wire, three wires were braided together and solder to gold plated machine clips.
Custom Silver & Gold Plated Leads: I use AT leads for about two weeks and very satisfied with sound quality of the wires but I found this guy on eBay selling custom made silver/copper leads for very reasonable price and I thought I want to give it shot and turns out it was superior cable and better in every way than AT6101.
Airy, Articulate, Attack, Balance, Crisp, Detailed, Dynamic, Imaging,Musical, Naturalness you name it everything is great I can't ask for more. One of the best upgrade I have ever done and it is a truly perfect headshell leads for my need.
I'm a very choosy and very detail oriented person but there is nothing I can complain about these custom leads other than tight fitment to my headshell pins.
Just a happy buyer, No affiliation with the seller.
If someone wants to know I would gladly share the information thru PM.
Happy Listening.
Steve
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