Recommendations for custom higher end head shells?

[triple20]

I've been looking around the net for some higher end custom made head shells.
I've seen all the offerings on the auction site and the big a sales site.
On the auction site I see a company in France and another in Germany that has some very nice wood head shells.
I have seen the offerings from Ortofon and Yamamato.
I really like the looks of wood and machined aluminum head shells but open to all.
What are some others I can look at?
thank you

 

[mcgjohn]

you will change the tonal balance by going from metal to wood, not really improve anything. and you may lose some dynamics.
you may want to consider keeping your current headshell and spend your money on a better cart, or a better phono stage.

 

[Blackdog61]

I've been looking around the net for some higher end custom made head shells.
I've seen all the offerings on the auction site and the big a sales site.
On the auction site I see a company in France and another in Germany that has some very nice wood head shells.
I have seen the offerings from Ortofon and Yamamato.
I really like the looks of wood and machined aluminum head shells but open to all.
What are some others I can look at?
thank you

I bought a wood body for a Shure cartridge on that site and it significantly improved it. I have it on a machined aluminum headshell. That’s another idea for you. I haven’t used a wooden headshell.

 

[LP-THORN]

What is your tonearm and cartridges that you use with it?

 

[triple20]

you will change the tonal balance by going from metal to wood, not really improve anything. and you may lose some dynamics.
you may want to consider keeping your current headshell and spend your money on a better cart, or a better phono stage.

Thank you, I'll keep this in mind and take the info into consideration.

 

[triple20]

I bought a wood body for a Shure cartridge on that site and it significantly improved it. I have it on a machined aluminum headshell. That’s another idea for you. I haven’t used a wooden headshell.

Thank you, I seen those and was wondering about that option.

 

[triple20]

What is your tonearm and cartridges that you use with it?

I have the Micro Seiki MA 505 on a DD 40.
I've been experimenting with different cartridges, some I like best are Stanton Epoch II HZ7S , Empire 2000 Z , Stanton 681 EEE and AT VM95 ML.
Thank you

 

[AvFan]

What are some others I can look at?

Take a look at Korf Audio's ceramic head shell. They have an interesting writeup on their design process.

 

[BillWojo]

The stock Micro Seiki headshell that comes on the MA-505 tonearm is no slouch, H-202? Korf did a bunch of testing on headshells and that MS headshell came out near the top. Look what they go for on the used market these days!

BillWojo

 

[CharlieAudio]

A junction between headshell and tonearm is a point of some amount of vibration and resonance. Whether a significant amount, I don't know. But maybe this is an excuse to get a tonearm like one from the Rega RB series, which has the cartridge mounting holes right on the tonearm.

 

[Blackdog61]

What is your tonearm and cartridges that you use with it?

I use it on a Shure M55E on the AR in my avatar pic. It took me some time to come around to this cartridge due to bad replacement styli and it wants a bit more mass than other Shures I’ve used. The cocobolo body really helps the low end.

 

[patient_ot]

Define what you mean by "custom". Do you simply mean an aftermarket headshell? Or are you looking to buy in bulk from an OEM per your specs and have your logo stamped on them? Please clarify.

 

[triple20]

Take a look at Korf Audio's ceramic head shell. They have an interesting writeup on their design process.

I only had a few minutes earlier to take a look at these,I'm going to read up about them in more detail. These ceramic head shells have captured my interest.
Thank you for letting me know about them.

 

[triple20]

The stock Micro Seiki headshell that comes on the MA-505 tonearm is no slouch, H-202? Korf did a bunch of testing on headshells and that MS headshell came out near the top. Look what they go for on the used market these days!

BillWojo

Thanks for the info!
I did read about these at the Korf site,I do have 1 already.
You are correct,the H-202 is one color combo and the H-303 is the other color combo. I haven't figured out if the version with 3 holes in it has another model number.
They are quite pricey and most of the time you can only find a Japanese seller with them.

 

[triple20]

A junction between headshell and tonearm is a point of some amount of vibration and resonance. Whether a significant amount, I don't know. But maybe this is an excuse to get a tonearm like one from the Rega RB series, which has the cartridge mounting holes right on the tonearm.

I'll look into this,thank you!

 

[triple20]

I use it on a Shure M55E on the AR in my avatar pic. It took me some time to come around to this cartridge due to bad replacement styli and it wants a bit more mass than other Shures I’ve used. The cocobolo body really helps the low end.

I really like the way that cocobolo wood looks. I've read it's in the rosewood family.

 

[patient_ot]

A junction between headshell and tonearm is a point of some amount of vibration and resonance. Whether a significant amount, I don't know. But maybe this is an excuse to get a tonearm like one from the Rega RB series, which has the cartridge mounting holes right on the tonearm.

Or you might not want to because a Rega arm lacks meat at the headshell end, which means it resonates just as much as a $10 cheesegrater unbranded headshell in vibrometry testing.

 

[triple20]

Define what you mean by "custom". Do you simply mean an aftermarket headshell? Or are you looking to buy in bulk from an OEM per your specs and have your logo stamped on them? Please clarify.

Just aftermarket,but I'm looking around for more then just the cheap $15 head shells that are all over the auction site.

 

[triple20]

Or you might not want to because a Rega arm lacks meat at the headshell end, which means it resonates just as much as a $10 cheesegrater underbranded headshell in vibrometry testing.

$10 cheesegrater lol, yes these are the head shells I don't want!

 

[patient_ot]

Just aftermarket,but I'm looking around for more then just the cheap $15 head shells that are all over the auction site.

My preference for headshells are the Japanese type made of magnesium alloy, with a straight top. The main supplier was Jelco but they are out of business now. However, you can still buy them from various sources - sometimes with a Jelco brand on the box, sometimes with another brand on the box. The ones I'm talking about usually have an azimuth adjustment screw and are *not* the bent metal type. Typically they sell for around $60-90 and weigh around 10-12g.

That might be a little heavy for some of the higher compliance carts you are using. The Korf headshell mentioned above is very expensive at $250 + shipping but is certainly one of the most rigid headshells you can buy. IIRC it weighs around 14g.

Downside when you start getting into these fancier headshells is that the prices can go up over $100 easily, and it might be easier and cheaper for you to just hunt down some MS brand headshells that were originally designed with your tonearm in mind.

I recommend staying away from random eBay crap. Sometimes those headshells look nice but they are not always made well. The guide pins can be off-center and they can be poorly made in general.

I also don't recommend Yamamoto wood headshells anymore after I got a bad one that was poorly made. At this point I have yet to see that wood offers any performance advantage whatsoever. Some of them can be fairly lightweight if that's what you want.