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Shipping a mounted Van den Hul ...
Preparing a mounted Van den Hul cartridge for shipping is not for the faint of heart.
We recently prepared a Van den Hul Colibri XGW Signature Stradivarius, and these photos are the result.
In a perfect world, cartridges would have stylus guards that actually work, but other design considerations (body resonances) mean that this is not a simple a matter as you would think.
A manufacturer's first goal is to produce good sound, and we all know that mechanical resonances influence the sound of a cartridge.
Body design is as important as the motor assembly, cantilever and stylus.
Van den Hul's naked body design is one key factor in the "Van den Hul sound". They treat resonances with utmost care, and their Stradivarius versions treat the wood body with a lacquer which tunes the resonant signature of the body.
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So all is not as it would appear, and shipping a Van den Hul mounted to a removeable headshell requires a bit of creativity.
