Analog Gear News

We’re always up for seeing whatever cool accessory ideas emerge from the mind of Sublima Audio Research founder Alessandro “Alex” Cereda, and his latest foray into this realm is the Shelly tonearm headshell.

Before we get into what Shelly is made of and what it’s purported to do, let’s first have a brief callback to Sublima Audio Research’s Mat Chakra Limited platter mat, which we initially covered here on AP back on October 8, 2024. The Mat Chakra resides underneath every LP I spin on a daily basis, in fact, and I’m quite pleased to have it there in constant use, as this platter mat consistently does exactly what it’s supposed to do.

But now, back to sharing more about Shelly, which is the perfect name/nickname for a tonearm headshell if ever there was. According to Sublima Audio Research (a.k.a. S.A.R.), Shelly is made of 300-year-old Italian olive wood that’s been “naturally stabilized, and without the use of ovens.” The part of the “alburno” (sapwood) that’s adjacent to the “durame” (heartwood) on the Shelly is said to have been selected for the quality and texture of the fibers in order to become “a reference shell.”

According to Cereda himself, Shelly boasts a double-resonance cavity, and the shell is born of “almost entirely hand-made workmanship, [utilizing] the same tools as [for] violin-making.” Continues Cereda, “The centenary Italian olive tree is highly sought after, and we use it for the particular hardness of the wood that is treated with a double liquid electromagnetic interactor produced in our violin-making laboratory to stimulate the wood to vibrate on a broad spectrum, and to protect it from time — and to give a high-quality sound managing to extract more information from your heads, both MM and MC.” (That’s moving magnet and moving coil, for those of you new to cartridge-type shorthand.)

Cereda also confirms the treatments for Shelly are the same used in fine violins (“700, 800, 900”) that S.A.R. have restored and upgraded in their own laboratory.

Finally, the SRP for the Sublima Audio Research Shelly tonearm headshell is €330. Hmm, it sounds like we may have to get our hands on a Shelly and test it out for ourselves — what say you?

For more about Sublima Audio Research, go here.
To find an authorized Sublima Audio Research distributor in North America, go here.
For all international queries, contact Sublima Audio Research directly here.