Are Compliance and Tracking Force Correlated?

[malden]

There is a lot of talk here about cartridge (stylus) compliance but looking though some of my cartridge and stylus literature, I don't see any mention of it.

So I'm wondering,

1) can compliance be assumed by the tracking force recommendations, i.e

low tracking force = high compliance
and
high tracking force = low compliance

or

2) can a stylus with a low recommended tracking force also have a low compliance ?

 

[stonedeaf]

I think so ?

I can't think of a single exception - the classic ADC XLM/V-15-III/Stanton 881,Sonus Blue Gold ,early Micro-Acoustics carts would track test records at very low stylus pressures and worked best in very low mass arms ( SME series 3 /Infinity Black Widow) - these were all very compliant - some supposedly into the high 30 and even 40 compliance ranges. They also tended to be fragile . so yes - I think if it's low tracking force it is high compliance . And higher tracking forces always seem to be lower compliance.
This rule of thumb is useful given the spec confusion created by the Japanese using a different measurement system than European/US manufactures .

 

[Doug G.]

It is a direct correlation. The easier the stylus is moved from side-to-side and up-and-down (higher compliance), the lower VTF is required.

Doug

 

[luckydog]

Here's my 2p worth of understanding of the relationship, and why.

The Japanese system obtains spec compliance from measured minimum VTF required to track a set amplitude at 100Hz. So yes it is directly correlated !

Spring and damping are elements within a cartridge suspension. How much of each varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and cart to cart. Because they are typically both implemented in one suspension elastomer component, the ratio between them is typically correlated too. It's a property of the suspension elastomer material.

At 100Hz suspension damping mostly defines how much VTF is required versus trackability. At 10Hz the spring element mostly defines behaviour. This is why it is not simple to accurately convert between spec compliance@100Hz and spec compliance@10Hz. VTF and trackability specs need to be applied, and one needs to know how it all fits together. And because spring and damping tend to correlate being from the same elastomer, even non-Japanese cartridges typically show correlation between spec VTF and spec compliance.

HTH, just my own opinions as ever.

 

[malden]

Thanks for the replies so far. So it seems that the answer to the second part of my question,

"can a stylus with a low recommended tracking force also have a low compliance ?"...is no.

I asked the question for two reasons

1) I was wondering if there existed a cartridge that would work well in a heavy transcription tonearm and track at or below say 2 grams.

and

2) whenever there is a thread started here regarding the best possible replacement stylus, the Jico SAS seems to be the one most often recommended. From what I've read, the SAS is a high compliance stylus but in these discussions, the tonearm is rarely mentioned.

 

[luckydog]

I was wondering if there existed a cartridge that would work well in a heavy transcription tonearm and track at or below say 2 grams.

My 2p worth. Short answer it would work with some compromises. In theory would always be short of damping, and so have a stability penalty. Arm damping or external damper then preferred, but still some stability compromise because soft spring = low resonant f. Better to use a cartridge with higher intrinsic damping, (and so higher VTF) I reckon, will also have associated firmer spring and higher res f. Much depends on how heavy is heavy as far as the transcription arm goes. Nothing to be afraid of in high VTF cartridges is my book, but that tends to rule out certain stylus profiles and aftermarket products if that's what you're looking for as you say, malden. I think you might just find it hard to achieve optimally what you're looking for, and some compromises seem inevitable one way or the other. And you might still find that alright, it perhaps depends what you're after.

Just my opinions, as ever.

 

[pdm4606]

Low compliance

Some MC cartridges are low compliance.
I use an old Pickering (IM) with an aftermarket stylus and would have to say it is low compliance. The arm I have is massive. An old Rek-O-Kut arm from the 50's.
It is also very complimentary to low compliance cartridges. The combination has the best sounds I ever heard.

I don't want a high compliance cartridge. I also don't like low mass tonearms.
They seem cheap and rattly.

Paul