I need a headshell recommendation for Technics 1200 GAE

Vintage:
Audio Craft, Orsonic, Stax, Grace SH-6 , Technics Boron Headshell 

New:
ZYX LIVE-18 

Yamamoto HS-4 if the weight (about 11 grams) is ok for you. 

A very substantial upgrade over the stock Jelco headshell for me at a reasonable price; typically available on Ebay around $100 U.S. 

Something to keep in mind... The original SL-1200GAE headshell including wire leads is approximately 7.6 grams.

Most of the headshells being recommended here are 12-16 grams without wire leads and without mounting screws. Which can add an additional 3-4 grams. S shaped tonearms without headshells have an average effective mass of 4-5 grams, this includes the SL-1200GAE.

Since most of this mass happens to be at the end, effective mass of the tonearm can increase to 19-25 grams, or so.

If we take a modern MM, such as the 2M Black, which has a little above average compliance of 22 and mass of 7.2 grams, this will put the cartridge resonance at 6Hz. A horrible result, which will drastically and negatively impact performance, sound, trackability, etc.

These modern headshells and a lot of other turntable related components, are geared towards modern low compliance MC cartridges. It’s unfortunate.

One MC exception is the Audio Technica ART9. It is a very high compliance cartridge, unlike any other MC on the market. Compliance is rated at 18 (Japanese 100Hz), or 27-32 (European 10Hz)! It needs the lowest mass headshell, or lowest effective mass tonearm, such as SME 309 or vintage SME III.

Here ya go!
https://www.lpgear.com/category/HEADSHELLS.html

@invictus005

Since most of this mass happens to be at the end, effective mass of the tonearm can increase to 19-25 grams, or so.

You can not change effective mass by adding heavier headshell, the effective mass in not just a mass, it is not that simple to change effective mass and it was explained here by experienced users.


@jbhiller

I will add a few pictures, i use all those shells, i have EPA-100 mkII tonearm.

Most of the shells i have listed are lightweight, especially the Orsonic (light version, not the heavy one), Stax (with azymuth/overhang adjustment), Grace HS-6 (carbon), and Technics own vintage Headshells. This Kenwood headshell is great to match in color to the new Technics arm (LOL). Victor headshells are also nice. They are all about 10-12g max. No problem to use them with Technics tonearm. You don’t have to stick to 8g headshell, just because Technics shell is about 8g! 10-13g is an average mass of the shell in the modern world.

ZYX LIVE-18 is great high-end headshell, but very expensive.