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Lightweight Headshell . . . what is considered light weight?

tubeboob

tubeboob

Super Member
I am particularly fond of my JVC QL Y66F TT.

I have the S-shaped arm, which I like the look of, and I wanted to use it with a HOMC, however, I don't have the extra counter-weight that is added to the typical counter-weight, so I need to do one of two things.

Either I scour the earth to find that extra counter-weight, which is as rare as hens teeth (do hens actually have teeth . . . I see why they're so rare . . .) or I look to find a lightweight headshell and a suitable lightweight LOMC cart and stylus.

But I'm not sure what constitutes "light weight"?

What would be the weight of a typical headshell if it were:

1. Heavy:

2. Normal:

3. Lightweight:

4. Super Lightweight:

What would be the weight of a "stylus and cart" if it were:

1. Normal:

2. Lightweight:

3. Super Lightweight:

I need to find a decent, not too expensive, LOMC stylus and cart as well . . .

The quest for knowledge and equipment is never-ending . . . :D:D:D

Cheers
 
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Lighter than what you currently use is 'lightweight?'

I switched from a stock 11g to a generic 6g to help lower effective mass for using a medium/high compliance cart on an S shaped arm. Works fine.
 
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Some magnesium alloy ones are very lightweight – I have two Denon PCL-5 ones, which are 6g, and very non-resonant. You can occasionally find them sold on Ebay – I bought mine used at different times off the same Hong Kong seller, who has a steady stream of turntable-related stuff he sells.

The ADC magnesium alloy ones weigh about the same, I think, and they can occasionally be found NOS.

Note that one of the mid-80's Denon MC brochures on vinylengine has the wrong weight (and material) for the PCL-5 - they show it as aluminium alloy and 9g, but it was actually the PCL-4 that weighed 9g and was aluminium alloy!:no:
 
Heavy headshell is about 20 grams. Fidelity Research has a few in that range.
Medium headshells would be in the 12-15 range
Light headshells would be in the 7-11
Super lightweight would be in the 0-6

Some headshells are integrated into the tonearm and are not removable so this gives you the 0 above. A real headshell would be a few grams at least.

for a cartridge headshell combination,
Heavy is around 30 grams as the Ortofon SPU ranges from 28-33

The rest you can determine by knowing that most turntables will balance fine with a 4-7 gram cartridge with the stock headshell. They need the additional weight many supply for a cartridge between 7-11 grams.

I'll leave the math up to you.

For your table the straight arm will handle 4.5-10.5 and 11.5-17.5 with the added weight
the s-arm will handle 8-14 and 15-21.

Maybe you can make an auxiliary weight. Is the shaft threaded which would make it easy? If not, you need to know the OD of the hole and grab an o-ring that can wrap around a chunk of metal and fit tightly into that hole.
 
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Blue Shadow said:
Heavy headshell is about 20 grams. Fidelity Research has a few in that range.
Medium headshells would be in the 12-15 range
Light headshells would be in the 7-11
Super lightweight would be in the 0-6

Some headshells are integrated into the tonearm and are not removable so this gives you the 0 above. A real headshell would be a few grams at least.

for a cartridge headshell combination,
Heavy is around 30 grams as the Ortofon SPU ranges from 28-33

The rest you can determine by knowing that most turntables will balance fine with a 4-7 gram cartridge with the stock headshell. They need the additional weight many supply for a cartridge between 7-11 grams.

I'll leave the math up to you.

For your table the straight arm will handle 4.5-10.5 and 11.5-17.5 with the added weight
the s-arm will handle 8-14 and 15-21.

Maybe you can make an auxiliary weight. Is the shaft threaded which would make it easy? If not, you need to know the OD of the hole and grab an o-ring that can wrap around a chunk of metal and fit tightly into that hole.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the in depth lesson. :thmbsp::thmbsp:

At least now I have something that I can sink my teeth into.

I will be looking for a few super light headshells. Any suggestions??

Cheers
 
I've had good luck with these (no affiliation):http://www.garage-a-records.com/proddetail.php?prod=nag1

They are actually about 6.3g, not the 5 listed. Light enough with one cartridge on my KD5070 I had to add a dab of modeling clay to get the counterweight adjusted to 2g tracking force. The weight was all the way forward and tracking was maxed at 1.5g!

I'm using medium compliance Ortofon moving iron carts, so the lower mass head shell helps.
 
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So what is the weight of the HOMC you want to try? Is it so high that the standard counterweight will not balance the arm? I have a low output MC that requires the extra weight on my tonearms.

You are making changes in the overall mass of the tonearm and this is something that should be matched to the cartridge. Most of the time low mass and low output don't really go together but that is something for you to ask or learn about using Vinyl Engines cartridge database for mass and resonance calculator.
 
tubeboob: Whichever route you decide to go, get one of the inexpensive (< $10) 0-100g digital scales (one that runs on AAA cells, preferably). Then you can weigh cartridges, headshells, counterweights, all kinds of useful stuff.

And remember, it's not just the absolute mass of the headshell that matters, it's how the mass is distributed. The farther away from the pivot, the more effect extra (or lesser) amounts of mass will have. Good luck!
 
I have a JVC QL-5. I am using a light weight headshell with it and it seems to be working very well. I agree with the idea of gettting a digital scale to check VTF. The counterweight is not accurate on my JVC when I use the lighter headshell. A stylus force gage has been very helpful in this situation. Lighter headshells will give you a lot of cartridge options.
 
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