EZ-Mount Screws for Cartridge Installation

The idea of having screws made of different materials and different weights is great. You can tailor the exact weight needed for each cart/tonearm combination, rather than having to get a heavier/lighter head shell or counterweight.The size is perfect and well thought out, as you can easily secure a cart without the need of an allen key or screwdriver.Now with all with the positives mentioned, I'd like to point out a few things that I find obscene and shameful:- For a $50 bunch of Soundsmith screws you'd expect them to be flawless and QC'ed properly. Since you're charging quite a pretty penny, it would be safe to assume that not only every item in the set is done properly, but an actual person inspected and signed-off on them as meeting your quality standards.I'm sure you can understand why I find it completely unacceptable and annoying when 1 of the 2 steel screws has no threads, kind of defeats the purpose of "securing" a cartridge when there is no threads to secure with. See attached images. The screw set is comprised of 8 screws, 2 of each material (plastic, aluminum, brass, steel). It's not like the purchased set has 100's of identical screws and one was a dud, making it difficult to find, it's 2 screws in each metal. The person in charge of QC could've just run their fingernail across each screw thread to check for anything wonky, that's what we're shelling $50 for. To me it reeks of indifference and laziness.- So if getting a defective product is not enough, now you have to wonder why there is only 4 plastic washers included, instead of 8. The number of screws is 8 (well 7 in my case) so the number of washers should match the number of screws, that's what commonsense would dictate. I wonder how much cost savings is being had by shorting us on the number of washers? I can't believe there is any, again, I have to mention that you're charging $50, so 3 cents worth of washers isn't breaking the bank. Just nickel and diming the customer as far as I'm concerned and cheapness. I guess it is true us "audiophiles" are very gullible and would buy anything.Lastly, in the same vein of cost-cutting and unnecessary cheapness, why is the packaging so bad? I mean really? A ziplock bag with documentation and the screws/washsers loosely strewn about? Is that not a bad look for Soundsmith? Doesn't charging us $50 kind of requires you to put some effort in packaging and presenting the products? I mean this is just a shameless money-grab at this point. I mean I have been guilty of buying overpriced "audiophile" marketed stuff, but this tops it all by a longshot.Again I have to keep mentioning it, for $50 you get a zip lock bag of loose screws, half the amount washers, and some screws might not have threads (rendering them useless).Before anyone thinks I have any axe to grind with Soundsmith, I don't. I actually love their cartridge restoration service, it was phenomenal, I sent my Dynavector XX-2 MKii for a repair and they did an outstanding job. Furthermore their cartridges seem be universally praised, so I don't understand why they are so far off the mark with something with their own branding, just weird...Anyway I said my piece, I guess buyer beware.

A great product, a bit overpriced but in my opinion still worth the money. Anyone that has tried to mount a phono cartridge will know that it takes three hands to do it comfortably. The use of knurled over sized screws where a driver is not needed is a great help. One less thing you have to worry about while keeping your concentration on not damaging the cantilever. The different weights are a great help in setting up the cartridge. Highly recommended if you need a bit more weight by the cartridge or just want the added ease in setup. Peter Lederman (proprietor of Soundsmith) has come out with another nice product.The length of the screw is 10mm with a M2.5 thread. I have tested these on both Dynavector and Soundsmith cartridges to great success. The kit comes with four nylon washers too. I would recommend using them between the cartridge body and tonearm as an added layer of separation.The reason I needed the extra weight was due to the addition of another Soundsmith product, the Counterintuitive for use on VPI tonearms. Prior to this I had the counterweight all the way forward. I am able to put it back into a more reasonable setting now.

These would do exactly what I wanted and be incredibly convenient—if they fit. Unfortunately—and ironically, since it's one of SoundSmith's most well-known products—at 10mm long, they're too short for the DL 103. I've decided to hold onto them for future cartridges, but I'm disappointed I can't use them for the Denon. Be sure to find out whether they'll be long enough for your cartridge!

Simplified setup a lot

Excellent solution to regular screws that come with cartridges. Easy to use. Highly recommended.