Witch
Outsider Contenders:
Glanz MH-4 ( On left) Skinny and weird but very well damped, sounds good though. This one is DLC coated and is reassuringly nosebleed (Even the standard one is gut knotting)
Nasotec swing headshell - Wobbles allover the place!! Iāve heard one in use many times and it seems to deliver (Donāt use anti skate)
Schick Resin Headshell. Similar in shape (Mass at the back) as the Schick Graphite headshell these seem to be very popular but Iāve not heard one, So this suggestion is based on foo appeal only.
Like the Ortofon LH-9000 with Ortofon Royal N and a AT-LH18 technihard with a Denon DL-103 on my FR64fx
The big fuck off Fidelity Research one
Whereabouts are you? I have a Korf head shell sitting in a cupboard somewhere you are welcome to try. I donāt think it is a great match with an Io though. With an Io Ltd on a FR64fx I preferred the Schick Graphite head shell. I did have a few of those but I think I only have one which was damaged, albeit playable, left. You are welcome to try that as well if you want. I also tried the Timestep and Yamamoto ebony head shells, both of which worked OK with the Io Ltd. I probably have those somewhere as well.
David
Hi Dave,
Long time no see
I am on the south coast near Newhaven.
I am sourcing a Schick Graphite head shell at the moment and hope to get a few others to try.
If the Korf is not a good match with the Io then I wonāt worry about it.
It wasnāt on the list of recommended hedshells that people posted on the thread.
I would be interested in the ebony headshells to try.
None of this is going to happening until mid-September as I am relying on the forum taxi service from Settle to get the TT and arm here.
What is the turntable?
Thorens TD124 MkII
Exciting. Iām currently making decisions myself to get everything bought by year end (hopefully). I still need to get my IO fixed as well, not a gold though but Iām still feeling proud to have one after getting sucked in by that Wam review haha
Iāve had a few of these, Uwe panzerholtz, Uwe Ebony, Schick Graphite, FR etc and preferred the Schick over the others although not tried with a IOā¦although they have doubled in price over the last few yearsā¦
Any recommendations re a headshell for Ikeda 407
The arche looks more faffy than I can cope with but if itās set and forget I could rope in some help from my cartridge fettling buddy (thatās you Mike)
Prefer second hand as trying it against the Ikeda standard one which feels a bit bunched up like itās too short
Cart is an Ikeda 9tt so expected the Ikeda one would be fine but the orsonic/arche look tempting
How can it be too short if you have (presumably) achieved the required overhang?
Ikeda geometry is a law unto itself.
To get the headshell in the right place the gap between cart and headshell is ok but very cramped for my leads
There is a bit of would something else be nicer going on here too of vourse
I like the solid fidelity research or micro seiki ones
Eh?
Will this not be the same with a longer headshell?
'Looping the tags so L&R come out each side of the cartridge is the way to go rather than a bunched & crunched mess crammed behind the cartridge. (shorter tags are sometimes handy too)
Darrenās Ikeda appears to be one that comes with a shorter type headshell aimed for those using a cartridge where the cantilever extends forward. There is reference to this in some older reviews, and the importer confirmed this.
Currently that make setting the overhang correctly difficult, and it looks a bit odd/off with a ācrescent moonā visible.
He could purchase a new Ikeda standard headshell (and they do a gold one now!) but when has that been the way of a meatman!
I quite like my Orsonic 101. A bit less faff & adjustment than the Arche.
I did borrow an Ikeda 407 from Mik at one point. The best sounding pivoted arm Iāve tried but as Matt says the geometry was weird & the cartridge was more askew in the shell than seemed right. It was as if the arm wasnāt bent enough! I didnāt have the Ikeda protractor & I donāt know what his intended geometry is.