Oyaide HS-CF

The most essential thing for any headshell is high structural rigidity, yet it must be lightweight and have the capability to attenuate unnecessary vibration. We selected CFRP, carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, for HS-CF as the material that best satisfies such requirements. Its 4mm thick shell part is composed of seventeen layers of prepreg material (carbon-fibre). At the planning phase, we employed single directional alignment with an exception of the centre layer in order to gain vibration damping property maximum. By the application of epoxy resin as a matrix material, its mechanical strength property remains unchanged semi-permanently. It is brought to completion by angle-type casting to avoid adhesive joints and cutting operation by CNC machining. The seventeen layers of prepreg material are made from T700, a highly rigid carbon-fibre (manufactured by Toray), and “1K cloth” is employed as its surface material, which is made from T300 carbon-fibre (also manufactured by Toray).

0.2mm 5N pure silver wires are manufactured by advanced manufacturing processes such as continuous-casting process in a high-frequency electric furnace, cold-rolling process, annealing operation and drawing process. They are stranded in seven lines to insure enough cross-sectional area and minimize its conductor resistance. The employment of a double-layered silk covering insulator realises clean signal transmission without static electrical charge. Although resin-type materials such as PVC or Teflon are easy to be negatively charge, in contrast silk has electric resistivity to static charge and an excellent electrical characteristic. Moreover, the glass-fibre sleeve also has high insulation property and resistance to electrical static charge. The rhodium-plated lead tip is made of phosphor bronze and enhances a degree of adhesion with contact pins.