Techdas titanium screw

gian60

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2016
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I have no good screw to connect cartridge to tonearm and after talking with Italian distributor friend i push him to gift to me the Techdas Screw,130 euro in Italy.
And he gift to me.
I read are light and hard so the cartridge is better connected to the arm.

I listened with old screw on SAT/Opus 1 Patricia Barber,the song you&the night &the music from album Modern cool,good song, good recording with good details but always little full on midbass,same in my friends system.
Then with Techdas screw i was very surprised,the full midbass disappear,sound more natural,transparent,little more dynamic and better detail,less dirty,was incredible.

I did same with Vyger/Lambda sl and also there same result,with 100 euro cost very good improvment.

Then i was worried because full midbass disappear and sound more clean, to have problems with other records but after tried on both TT,all other my reference records,all were better with bass always same and more strong and sound little more clean and less " dirty "with more details.

I saw also in internet you can buy titanium screw at few euro,i dont know if is same quality of Techdas and price is really crazy or techdas has a better titanium
With big amount we spend in this hoppy i suggest to try this if possible to try
 

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PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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Gian, what kind of screws were you using before? Do you use a torque wrench to adjust the tension?

I have used screws of different weights to adjust effective mass and inertia and to get the counterweight closer to the pivot point. But I haven’t experimented in a long time and default to the standard screws that come with the cartridge.

Thank you for sharing this information. I was not even aware that TechDAS makes these.
 

gian60

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2016
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I always used screw founded in Cartridges box and i have many since 30 years,i triad to change some but sound always same
With this really a good improvment.
I found in web titanium screw for few euro,could same like this Techdas of 130 euro,but i dont know
 

bazelio

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
2,493
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I'm also using titanium headshell screws. Mainly because on a highish mass arm, I'm generally looking to save weight where possible. Mine came from Japan, made by Yamamoto. I now use a torque wrench and teflon washers (only to prevent stiction while tightening). I did find that having a uniform tightness within a specific range does make a difference that I can hear. I'm not so sure if the screws being titanium is making much of an audible difference in my case. Maybe it is.
 

ddk

Well-Known Member
May 18, 2013
6,261
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I listened with old screw on SAT/Opus 1 Patricia Barber,the song you&the night &the music from album Modern cool,good song, good recording with good details but always little full on midbass,same in my friends system.
Then with Techdas screw i was very surprised,the full midbass disappear,sound more natural,transparent,little more dynamic and better detail,less dirty,was incredible.
Dear Gian,
I know screws can affect the sound to some extent but if the difference is as much as you experienced I'd do more testing before jumping in. Don't forget PB recordings have a fat mid bass!

david
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
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Hong Kong
Techdas' titanium screws are one of the best in the market.
The other good ones are those from Acoustical Systems and Vertere.

My diehard LP friends in HK told me that not all titanium screws were good because they were not pure titanium but alloys and the quality/sonics were diff.
 

shakti

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May 9, 2015
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I have some good experience with

Yamamoto BT-1

Titanium screws.

Yamamoto is using kind of "old" titanium mix, which is very brittle, but they prefer to the newer materials.

I fitted yesterday day a TechDAS TI Cart with the Titanium techDAS screws, the difference of the materiel to Yamamoto is very obvious.

Brakemeier do recommend for Titanium screws in his Arche Headshell a much higher torque (if the cartridge body can handle) .

Than it is important, the lower disk can handle the torque es well. The TechDAS Titanium screws are supplied with titanium lower disks.

personally I prefer lower torques and mixed material in this area, so I used yesterday hard plastic lower disks to fit the TechDAS Ti Cart in the Phantom TI tonearm with the TechDAS Ti screws.

In some headshell/Cart Combination I even prefer a lower and a higher torque to have a different and preferred "way" the resonances can go into the Tonearm.

If you change the screws, please have in mind, they all have different weights, so you need to adjust the tracking force new!
( I forgot this in the beginning of my screw journey, and the differences I heard, were just the change of the tracking force...)
 

mtemur

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Mar 26, 2019
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I used TechDAS titanium screw sets for 3 different setups (two Kondo and one ZYX ultimate diamond cartridges) and I used torque wrench to install them. the difference is impressive. sound became more dynamic and smoother on all of them. this was a change that I wasn't expecting.
 

TLi

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2016
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TechDAS Ti screws are 2.6mm in diameter, they fit perfectly with Japanese cartridges, they sound very good with my Koetsu tigereye, but do not fit my Ortofon MC Century. Ortofon have 2.5mm screw holes. I have tried many different Ti headshell screws, cheap Ti screws tend to be too bright and dry. TechDAS ones get the right balance, they are dynamic and warm.

From TechDAS website, their Ti screws have discontinued, so try to get a set if you can. My set was given to me by Mr Nishikawa in Tokyo HiFi Show. He was asked where to buy a set, he said there was no more stock in Japan, I could have this display set for free. Thank you so much, he is always super nice.
 

matakana

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Aug 26, 2020
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Maybe of interest to members.
 

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advanced101

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May 3, 2017
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matakana

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The brass that I use made quite a difference.
 

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marty

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Apr 20, 2010
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What torque settings are recommended for headshell screws? How tight is too tight?
BTW, my experience with teflon washers was negative using a ZYX Premium in the Reed headshell. Bass improved significantly without the washers.
 
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matakana

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Aug 26, 2020
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Iam using slotted head rather than the philips, this allows me to see the position of each bolt in the headshell and align them, you can then tighten or loosen to what is preferred, I dont use washers.
 

mtemur

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Mar 26, 2019
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What torque settings are recommended for headshell screws? How tight is too tight?
BTW, my experience with teflon washers was negative using a ZYX Premium in the Reed headshell. Bass improved significantly without the washers.
I experienced the same. today I removed teflon washers after a one week test period and bass turned back to normal again. btw I’m still testing teflon washers on another arm with a ZYX cartridge.
according to some cartridge manufacturers tightness on screws should be 0.65 in lbf or 0.07Nm. and some others suggest more. I use 0.07Nm. I think it’s working good for me.
 
Last edited:

TLi

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2016
432
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What torque settings are recommended for headshell screws? How tight is too tight?
BTW, my experience with teflon washers was negative using a ZYX Premium in the Reed headshell. Bass improved significantly without the washers.
There is no rigid recommended torque for every system but at least both headshell screws should have the same torque to begin with. That's why torque controlled screwdriver is needed.

The best torque is determined by careful listening. Too tight will give a darker sound, i.e. stronger bass but dimmer treble and midrange. Too loose, the sound is light, losing bass energy. With the torque controlled screwdriver, start with a very light torque, just enough to hold cartridge steady, play a few songs. Then gradually increase the torque in small increments and listen carefully. You will find your favorite setting, there is no short cut, you have to take your time and experiment. Different tonearms, different headshells and cartridges have different characters, so as your personal preference.
 

amadeus

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Jan 13, 2018
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I have some good experience with

Yamamoto BT-1

Titanium screws.

Yamamoto is using kind of "old" titanium mix, which is very brittle, but they prefer to the newer materials.

I fitted yesterday day a TechDAS TI Cart with the Titanium techDAS screws, the difference of the materiel to Yamamoto is very obvious.

Brakemeier do recommend for Titanium screws in his Arche Headshell a much higher torque (if the cartridge body can handle) .

Than it is important, the lower disk can handle the torque es well. The TechDAS Titanium screws are supplied with titanium lower disks.

personally I prefer lower torques and mixed material in this area, so I used yesterday hard plastic lower disks to fit the TechDAS Ti Cart in the Phantom TI tonearm with the TechDAS Ti screws.

In some headshell/Cart Combination I even prefer a lower and a higher torque to have a different and preferred "way" the resonances can go into the Tonearm.

If you change the screws, please have in mind, they all have different weights, so you need to adjust the tracking force new!
( I forgot this in the beginning of my screw journey, and the differences I heard, were just the change of the tracking force...)

Dear Shakti and other users can you tell me what the differences are between Techdas Titanium screws and Yamamoto Titanium screws more specific?
And which range are you seting the torque in (C)Nm?

Thanks in advance
 

shakti

Well-Known Member
May 9, 2015
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Yamamoto and TechDAS do use a different Titanium Alloy.
I am sure, both are finding arguments for using their company receipt .

The Torque depends on Cart and headshell. My Etsuro Gold does not like high torque, my AS Fideles likes high torque, same with headshells, Wood or carbon headshells mostly do not like high torque, most metal headshells need high torque.

Mostly I prefer different torque for the 2 screws, sometimes I even use different washers.
 
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