Yamamoto Sound Craft HS-4 / HS-4S Carbon Headshell

Carbon fiber is twice as rigid as steel, 1/5 the weight of steel, and has excellent sound velocity (speed of sound propagation). 5mm thick carbon fiber is used for the HS-4 and HS-4S headshells, maintaining its high strength. The most important requirements for a headshell material are light weight, high strength, and low resonance. Carbon fiber is the best material to satisfy all these requirements.
The high speed and power from low to high frequencies, the high information content, the lively reproduction, and the clear and distinct tone may improve the sound of your familiar cartridges by a notch!

The HS-4 comes with standard shell leads, while the HS-4S has 6N copper wire soldered directly to the connector section. HS-4S shell leads cannot be replaced, but there is a sound quality benefit from having one less contact point to pass through, greatly improving sound clarity.

The finished weight, including leads, is quite light at about 11g, fulfilling the ideal requirements for a lightweight and rigid headshell. Generally, the lighter the weight of the tone arm including the cartridge and headshell, the higher the sensitivity of its operation, which contributes to the improvement of information content. In addition, the company's weight adjustment washersWA-1to adjust the weight balance more easily.

Material	Body: carbon fiber, 5mm thick Finger rest: brass (non-magnetic gold-plated) Connector: soldered on connector side (not replaceable) Connector terminal pins: machined phosphor bronze, phosphor bronze gold-plated Connector insulation: Teflon
Dimensions	18(W) 50(L) 18(H)
Weight	10.7g (including lead wire, not including mounting screw)
Shell lead	Standard 4-color lead wires
Accessories	3 types of gold-plated brass mounting screws included

Compared to the wooden shells, I felt that it was dead and the reverberation of the resonance was rounded off to the point where it was all about digging out the information on the record. The number of notes is the highest I've ever heard. The detailed sound and nuance are also well represented. It has the feel of a high-end speaker with a good S/N ratio and minimal enclosure squeal.
*Analog Magazine Review