Compliancy matching

[Ant1-Hero]

I have a couple of questions regarding compliancy matching

My tone arm has a mass of 7.2g without a headshell and cartridge attached

I have 2 head shells one is 11g and the other is 7g

I also have two cartridges A grado silver1 and a Denon Dl-160.

I am trying to wrap my head around which would be the best set up for the two carts on that table, I'm thinking the grado with the 7g headshell and the Dl-160 with the 11g headshell.

Does this sound right?

 

[finnbow]

I have a couple of questions regarding compliancy matching

My tone arm has a mass of 7.2g without a headshell and cartridge attached

I have 2 head shells one is 11g and the other is 7g

I also have two cartridges A grado silver1 and a Denon Dl-160.

I am trying to wrap my head around which would be the best set up for the two carts on that table, I'm thinking the grado with the 7g headshell and the Dl-160 with the 11g headshell.

Does this sound right?

Sounds right to me. The Grado is somewhat more compliant than the Denon and would accordingly match better with the lighter headshell (IMHO). Wait until Howard (Hakaplan) kicks in his $.02 for a more definitive response.

 

[Ant1-Hero]

which equation would I use to determine the tonearm resonance?

 

[ETI_5000]

which equation would I use to determine the tonearm resonance?

Forget trying to work it out - it's a waste of time.:gigglemad The only way to accurately determine tonearm/cartridge low frequency resonance is with a test record. Go to Ebay, and search for Shure test record. The Era IV and Era V test records, which were available for buyers of the Shure V15 type IV and V respectively, both have tonearm resonance tests on them, and it's easy to find out the resonance using them - in many cases, it bears no relation to any manufacturer figures that they release, and which people try vainly to plug into equations. There are other test records that have resonance tests, but the Shure ones are the most popular, and are always for sale on Ebay.

 

[62sunbeam]

Forget trying to work it out - it's a waste of time.:gigglemad The only way to accurately determine tonearm/cartridge low frequency resonance is with a test record. Go to Ebay, and search for Shure test record. The Era IV and Era V test records, which were available for buyers of the Shure V15 type IV and V respectively, both have tonearm resonance tests on them, and it's easy to find out the resonance using them - in many cases, it bears no relation to any manufacturer figures that they release, and which people try vainly to plug into equations. There are other test records that have resonance tests, but the Shure ones are the most popular, and are always for sale on Ebay.

Please let me hijack for a moment.

I have said test record and while I pass pretty much all the other tests with flying colors I rarely get very far into the compliance section without getting the nasty sound. Is this an example of bad match between my tonearm and cart or just a inability of my cart to follow the grooves in this section (ie the cart itself isn't compliant enough)?

Thanks

Eric

 

[Ant1-Hero]

bump

 

[hakaplan]

The median tracking force for the Grado is 1.5g, while for the Denon it's 1.6g-- hardly that much of a difference in compliance. The 11g headshell is way too heavy for either cartridge. For a second headshell either purchase a Stanton H4-S or one of these affairs:

Both around 8g, both inexpensive. Odds are the Stanton would work better with a Technics or if you are using Baerwald alignment; the grid better for Stevenson or the mfr's alignment. I'd pair the Denon with the new headshell.

As ETI_5000 mentioned, using the formula is a waste of time. Published compliance values are often inaccurate, inconsistent, or measured at irrelevant levels. A test record is helpful and fun, but even with light headshells, most s-arms are going to end up with resonances too low with any cartridge with less than a median TF of perhaps 2g. Most of the time it's a non-issue--they still sound and track fine. But you want to use the lightest headshell you can.

 

[Ant1-Hero]

one of the headshells i have looks like that, I'm thinking about buying a technics headshell at 5.6g.

 

[hakaplan]

one of the headshells i have looks like that, I'm thinking about buying a technics headshell at 5.6g.

The Technics headshell weighs 7.5g. I don't think the .5g difference between it and the Stanton justifies the extra cost.

 

[Ant1-Hero]

The Technics headshell weighs 7.5g. I don't think the .5g difference between it and the Stanton justifies the extra cost.

oh I guess needle doctor had it wrong, so I guess the one I have at 7 grams is the winner. I'll have to pick another one up.

 

[hakaplan]

oh I guess needle doctor had it wrong, so I guess the one I have at 7 grams is the winner. I'll have to pick another one up.

Yep, that's an error on their part.