Headshell question

[geauxldmember]

Hello. My Pioneer pl-516 has the original headshell on it. Is there any advantage/disadvantage to replacing it with another new one? I'm having no problems with anything. Just more curious about it I guess.

thanks

 

[Stanton681EEES]

Well if you want to try other cartridges extra shells are nice to have but That stock Pioneer should do Ok. You may want to upgrade the headshell wires.

 

[Edriz]

Yeah, you will want more headshells if you have multiple cartriges. It's a real PITA if you want to swap carts with one headshell. I have 4 headshells now. Only use 3 though. Somehow, I ended up buying one too many.

It does make it nice to be able to just stick on another headshell, re-balance and go

 

[Fred Longworth]

Manufacturing tolerances on headshells do vary. Pay particular attention to the four pins at the rear of the headshell that mate with the four spring-loaded contacts inside the receptacle. Often these pins don't protude enough, leading to channel dropout and hum.

Also, we have recently run into a few headshells where the electrical connection between the body of the headhsell that the cartridge mounts to and the socket that plugs into the arm was defective, leading to an ungrounded headshell body -- and a persistent hum.

Fred

 

[iLUVanalog]

Hello. My Pioneer pl-516 has the original headshell on it. Is there any advantage/disadvantage to replacing it with another new one? I'm having no problems with anything. Just more curious about it I guess.

thanks

unless there is something wrong with your current headshell, no need to change it.

 

[BrocLuno]

Having more headshells is an issue if you have a growing cartridge library. Having various weights in shells is nice so that shell/cartridge combos can be all in a narrower range to make rebalancing after swap easier. the generic shells off the 'Bay are around 6.7 grams with wires.

For new wires, I always recommend the SOAR wires from LPGear. Very well made and soooo flexible they will bend back on themselves for long body cartridges that mount close to the pins. Gold plated sockets and silk wrapped OCC wire. For $18 it's hard to go wrong with that

 

[geauxldmember]

Thanks everyone for all the replies! Some very good tips and advice as always.

:thmbsp:

 

[fftulip]

One more tip for replacing headshells. If your needle/stylus is tilted from the perpendicular (this is more common than you may think), you can buy one that has an adjustable azimuth (rotates with setscrew) to compensate. Most cheap headshells don't have this feature but Sumiko and others do, about $40 and up, though you may be able to find one used for less. A great way to salvage an expensive needle that has this issue.

 

[hakaplan]

One caution on the Sumiko headshell. Nice as it is, it's very heavy. First, it can make it difficult to balance the arm. And second, the added mass makes cartridge compliance matching all but impossible for anything but the lowest compliance MC cartridges. If you're using any MM cartridge you'll want to stick with the lightest headshell you can find. The vintage grid shells work the best for these s-arms.