i am one of those "freaks" that you describe...
i have a number of arms and tables. the biggest challenge to fit a cartridge is my breuer 8C. it is said to like low mass cartridges, as does the black widow. well, the best fit for my breuer has been a heavier wood body benz micro H20 and the best fit for my black widow is the denon 103. i also have a moerch up4, yellow dot tube, which sounds spectacular with the benz H20. now that arm tube and cartridge do match for mass loading. i am also happy with the sound of my davinci grandezza using a benz ebony, even though the arm likes a cartridge 10gms heavier.
so don't get too messed up with mass loading/matching. it's a trial and error thing. some arms and some cartridges are more sensitive than others.
btw, that outboard arm pod that you mentioned is well worth the effort. i designed and built one. the sound improvement in detail and bass reproduction is amazing. check out pics in my gallery here.
don
i have a number of arms and tables. the biggest challenge to fit a cartridge is my breuer 8C. it is said to like low mass cartridges, as does the black widow. well, the best fit for my breuer has been a heavier wood body benz micro H20 and the best fit for my black widow is the denon 103. i also have a moerch up4, yellow dot tube, which sounds spectacular with the benz H20. now that arm tube and cartridge do match for mass loading. i am also happy with the sound of my davinci grandezza using a benz ebony, even though the arm likes a cartridge 10gms heavier.
so don't get too messed up with mass loading/matching. it's a trial and error thing. some arms and some cartridges are more sensitive than others.
btw, that outboard arm pod that you mentioned is well worth the effort. i designed and built one. the sound improvement in detail and bass reproduction is amazing. check out pics in my gallery here.
don