Cartridge ISOLATION; What Say You?

Snake oil

Audio as a hobby.-limitless as one's imagination. 

Looks like some leftover shipping material you find in package, and someone thought-"If I cut it to fit under my cartridge.."

If you hear "it" it works.

another comment in the article: reviewer mentioned a layer of isolation under the tonearm base (he tried blu-tac). Also against my 'instinct'.

Your instinct is correct. The arm must be as rigidly coupled to the plinth as possible, and the cartridge as rigidly coupled to the arm as possible.


The engineering issue hear is really similar to that of steering in a car. You want the wheel to stay on the ground and you need to have control over which direction its pointed. Imagine having something squishy between the steering wheel and the wheel on the road! You would not want to drive that car.

Fortunately this isn't as dangerous :)  but don't do it unless you want to hear what degraded performance sounds like.

It is not a matter of "think" that is for people who guess. It is a matter of reason, by which I mean understand and reason logically from what we know.

Everything vibrates. If the cartridge is rigidly attached to the head shell then this vibration travels through the head shell into the arm tube and so on, with the result the whole thing is vibrating. There are plenty of Peter Ledermann videos you can watch if you want to learn how big a problem this is. The best one is where he talks about how analog is like digital because jitter has the stylus jumping back and forth sampling the groove instead of tracing it like we think it does.

It is critically important to control all these spurious vibrations. https://youtu.be/WmwnN_T_wW8?t=1200  

I used to think rigidly mounted with massive stiffness was the way to go. Until it turned out my Origin Live Conqueror did sound better just sitting in the hole not bolted tightly down. A lot of things are like this. Speakers and other components sound much better on springs. In all cases this is because it is better to let each thing vibrate and dissipate energy on its own rather than excite everything around it. Because vibration blurs detail, and harmonic vibration (it is all harmonic vibration by the way) alters tone and timbre. 

So the best approach is to decouple the cartridge from the arm. The cartridge however is very low mass and has to track a violently undulating groove. It cannot just be free to move. It must be held rigidly, but yet also in a way that facilitates some vibration to dissipate into the more massive arm, while damping cartridge vibration, and all of this at the same time as not reflecting vibration right back down into the stylus.

Watch Ledermann, he clearly shows how vibration travels up the cantilever and then right back down again to the stylus, which winds up being whipped around. Vibration control is everything. Rigidly mounting is not that great a method. Too much reflection, too much smearing.

My personal experience, first thing tried was fO.q tape. This stuff worked great on the arm tube and base so I cut a piece to fit between the head shell and cartridge. Nice improvement. Seemed to remove a layer of grunge that left dynamics and detail in place making them much more clear.

Then recently tried the Origin Live Cartridge Enabler. This looks like felt and some members with zero experience claim it is felt but even just looking at it is enough to know it is not just felt. The material is engineered to have one side up. One side against the cartridge, the other against the head shell. The same material is even cut into washers. When mounted the cartridge is held securely while also effectively isolated from the head shell.

This is definitely the way to go. The reasoning is solid and equally important matches actual results heard. But as always don't take anyone's word for it. Put in the time and effort to understand for yourself and then finally when you are sure confirm it all with actual experience. 

If the arm tube is not damped you're going to have problems! But decoupling the cartridge from the arm will not be a solution in that it will be akin to placing a bandaid over a rash that won't go away.


The platter supports the LP; in theory at least there will be no slop in the platter bearing so the platter, if there is any vibration, will be vibrating in the same plane as the plinth. The arm must be also rigidly coupled to the plinth in the same manner as the platter. The plinth thus must be both rigid and dead. The arm will have no slop in its bearings and the arm tube is non-resonant.


If these parameters are met then the pickup will not transduce vibration in the platter as it will be vibrating in the same plane.


If the arm is decoupled from the plinth a coloration will be introduced. But if the plinth simply isn't up to the task in the first place, this may actually be perceived as a good thing.


My comments are based on the idea that the platter, plinth and arm are properly engineered. Introducing isolation at the base of the arm or the mounting of the cartridge is guaranteed to introduce a coloration. But if the equipment isn't engineered properly in the first place it might actually be perceived as an 'improvement', but what's really happening is a lucky compensation for an inadequacy has been found. It won't work the same on every machine, that's for sure!

I hve tried the Isolator on Hadcock, Mørch, Scheu and Dynavector arms using various Zyx MC cartridges. In each case it provided a more than subtle improvement.
Millercarbon is right to point out the deleterious vibration transmission from the cartridge body into the arm. Len Gregory would probably point out that the polymer used is too stiff to result in mushy tracking against Atmasphere’s point.

Convincing points Yea or Nay,

My arm/arm-board/plinth (70mm 7 layer JVC) are solid, thus I believe all groove/stylus vibration is going into the cartridge; Plinth factory leveling feet on 2" square isolation pads to lessen my springy wood floor vibrations as I walk away.

I've got a few sheets of 'gasket paper', you cut your own exhaust manifold or carburetor gaskets from it. I'll dig it out, think about it, perhaps try it on one of my 3 arms.

two layers of heavy duty duct tape?

I have a few Decca cartridges. Been using them since the 80s. When I upgraded two of them from the red bendy plastic fitting to the milled aluminum Decapod, I noticed a specific change to the presentation of music. The improved and more rigid mount tightened the music, if you will, lending more stability to the image, faster transients, reduced sibilance, slightly larger and blacker soundstage. While I prefer the accuracy, and would never go back, I will say that it did reduce the musicality of the device. Just a little but it did raise the question of why. Why did it sound more musical? Colorations from vibrations? Harmonics?

My take is simple.  The cartridge needs a solid sink to take excess vibrations that are generated in the cartridge while playing the record.

I tried a couple of isolation devices, and found they smeared the frequency balance and the soundstage, messed with the bass, and generally degraded the sound.

The suspense is killing me. Does Peter Ledermann advocate using the enabler? Or what does he advocate after having demonstrated vibration in the cartridge and tonearm? I agree with Ralph. But then I will be chastised for using logic rather than experience. On the other hand I have had 45 years of experience playing LPs. Anyway I wonder what is the possible advantage of absolutely preventing vibration from moving from the cartridge into the tonearm? Especially if the tonearm is properly damped. I suppose it could not hurt to dissipate that energy within the context of the enabler, so in that sense the enabler may be harmless. For undamped tonearms by extension I suppose the enabler might be helpful. In previous discussions of these devices I mentioned that this issue is much bigger for low compliance i.e. moving coil cartridges than it is for high compliance cartridges which can dissipate more energy in their suspensions.

As usual it's so ugly looking device that can make any beautiful tonearm and cartridge looks ugly. 

My arm/arm-board/plinth (70mm 7 layer JVC) are solid, thus I believe all groove/stylus vibration is going into the cartridge;

Then either they stopped teaching basic physics in high school, or you slept through it. Newton, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. What you describe is impossible. Never happen. If it did we could not play baseball, tennis, drive cars, on and on.    

The reason the stylus vibrates in the first place is the record groove hits it. Therefore, equal and opposite, just as much vibrational energy goes into the record as the cartridge. Equal and opposite. Are you sure you never heard this before? Just checking.   

These record grooves by the way, they are at right angles to each other which means each side is 45 degrees to vertical, which means Ralph is wrong all the vibrational energy is not in the plane of the platter.   

If you want to try gaskets and duct tape be my guest. Right now on the Tekton Owner's Group on FB there is a guy thinks it funny to use jumper cables. So har de har har. Knock yourself out. When (if) you decide to come back to reality and learn something I will still be here. Who knows if I can set aside the BS might even answer another question or two.   

The reason the stylus vibrates in the first place is the record groove hits it. Therefore, equal and opposite, just as much vibrational energy goes into the record as the cartridge. Equal and opposite.

Conservation of mechanical (vibrational) energy is not a law, but conservation of energy is. Therefore the vibrations are not necessarily equal.

What part of f=ma do you need help with?

millercarbon

there's no need for you to take every opportunity to prove ....

I was letting you know my plinth is solid, and currently nothing else (above the cartridge, or under the tonearm base) is moving. You knew what my point was.

I agree with Chakster, Lew's thing is UGLY!!! And too thick!

I'm also wondering about the adhesive sheets that sound proofing car audio installers use inside door cavities.

for the stylus to read the groove "successfully" the whole system of..........floor, rack, shelf, plinth, platter, tonearm base, bearing, arm wand, cartridge plate, and screws need to be tuned together. each step has to be right......if one step is wrong, then things are off.

what is ’right’? i’ve not seen high end quality cartridges designed to be loose on an arm. not saying it can’t be that way, just never seen it with over 10 turntables, 20 arms, and 30+ cartridges over 30 years.

the best performing systems are solid where they are designed to be solid, and agile and resonance minimizing where they need to do that.

some cartridges even perform better with cartridge screws torqued to a particular spec. i could totally understand that. i recall when Joel Durand was in the early stages of designing his tonearms and he would bring them over to my room to test, he experimented with a number of headshell/cartridge mounting materials and methods. never was ’loose’ or "cushioned" a part of them.

throwing damping products at cartridge mounts is not a direction i see as productive. but might some situation benefit? i suppose i have to keep my mind open. but my sense is that sort of approach is a band aid for some issue elsewhere in the system.....or flaw/compromise in the cartridge, tonearm or turntable design.

Until it turned out my Origin Live Conqueror did sound better just sitting in the hole 

Yes, Einstein, thats what happens when you have a poorly designed arm with rattly bearings or poorly designed home brew TT that fails to deal with the cartridge vibrations that you talk about.

Atmasphere is absolutely correct - compromise loop rigidity between the cartridge arm platter and you cant measure the groove accurately.

If you are having probems with that then get a better TT and arm.

Putting a Isolator between the Cartridge and Head Shell serves one purpose IMV, it can change the perception of the presentation for the listener who is quite familiar with a Systems SQ.
The user of the Isolator is in their assessment liking the perception of the sound now being delivered or they are not.

It is possible for myself to change a perception of the sound in my system in a much easier method and that is to exchange Platter Mats.

The Science is the same as it is quite basic, the new material at the interface, either stimulates an individual and it becomes likeable or it does not.

Platter Mats are much easier to swap out than Head Shell Isolators.
The two methods probably share a requirement where the VTA might still need to be adjusted to get the full impact of the changes being made.   

millercarbon,

thanks for the link to the Peter Ledermann Video. 

I encourage everyone to find an hour to view it, link repeated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmwnN_T_wW8&t=1200s

Makes me want to run right out, rob a bank, buy his best Strain-Gauge Cartridge.

https://www.sound-smith.com/cartridges/strain-gauge-systems/strain-gauge-systems

Have you or anyone tried one?

Everything vibrates. If the cartridge is rigidly attached to the head shell then this vibration travels through the head shell into the arm tube and so on, with the result the whole thing is vibrating. There are plenty of Peter Ledermann videos you can watch if you want to learn how big a problem this is.

Interesting reading this from a guy who in the past has been completely dismissive of cart/tonearm compliance matching.  Perhaps he's coming around?

Thanks OP, good to see a few decent earnest audiophiles still around here.

Ledermann’s Strain Gauge is good enough it more than likely will be next for me. There are not a lot of reviews but search around, they are there, and the consensus is the SG1 is right up there with the world’s best cost no object cartridges. We are talking $10k and up carts. At this level of course you are using a $10k and up phono stage. One review if I remember right was $30k or more of cart and stage and the SG1 was right there.

This is with the stock power supply. There are gains to be made upgrading the power supply. Not that it is needed, but nice to know. Combine with being able to buy extra stylus/cantilever for dirt cheap, user-replaceable no less, it makes the SG1 about as much of a stone bargain no-brainer as can be.

What makes it especially attractive for me is since it eliminates the need for a phono stage then selling the Herron the SG1 nets out to a very reasonable upgrade cost especially considering it should be like going from entry level Koetsu to their finest for only about $5k. Can hardly say no to that.

atmasphere,

" If the arm tube is not damped you're going to have problems!"

I found this, makes my head spin, especially with short term memory issues.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/tonearm-damping-damped-or-not-useless-welcomed

Are these two arms (rigidly mounted to my rigid plinth) considered Damped?

My 12.5" long one, Gimbal Type (not quick change cartridge). Carbon Arm

http://newartvinyl.ru/board/detali_proigryvatelja/tonarm_black_bird12_5_carbon/7-1-0-41

NewArtVinyl says:

• Tonearm - 12.5-inch, straight, swivel; gimbal type with internal stabilization according to the Gimbal principle, anti-skating system.

I also have a 9" Acos Lustre GST 801, Dynamic Balance, magnets for stylus force and anti-skate, removable headshell. Precision machined base has wonderful VTA on the Fly.

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/acos/lustre-gst-801.shtml

My old SME 3009, Knife Edge, Damped?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203593495169?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=533...

.......................................

In any case, I gather you do not advocate adding a soft layer under the tonearm base, or adding a soft layer above any cartridge, correct?

IOW, these 'soft' treatments can only be an improvement if they are solving a problem that could/should be otherwise avoided/eliminated, correct?

I gather you do not advocate adding a soft layer under the tonearm base, or adding a soft layer above any cartridge, correct?

Nor do I. So what happens around here over and over again, someone says something perfectly clear and uncontroversial, then someone else comes along twists it around to resemble nothing even close and fifteen immediately parrot the distortion. Here is what I actually said:

The cartridge however is very low mass and has to track a violently undulating groove. It cannot just be free to move. It must be held rigidly, but yet also in a way that facilitates some vibration to dissipate into the more massive arm, while damping cartridge vibration, and all of this at the same time as not reflecting vibration right back down into the stylus.

The Cartridge Enabler is not soft. Went out of my way to make clear it is not felt. Not soft. Engineered material. Not at all what people are talking about.

millercarbon

aside from full understanding of the ugly thing, it's ability to dissipate Jitter without being considered Soft:

I thank, and not thank you, for the link and my learning about the essentially Jitter Free Strain-Guage Cartridges. Maybe I'll spend that much for my 75th Birthday in 2 years. Of course, that will lead to what Tonearm?

I found these Strain-Gauge discussions here:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/live-concerts-and-studio-sessions-despite-covid-soundsmith-st...

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/anyone-have-experience-with-soundsmith-s-strain-gauge?highlig...

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/live-concerts-and-studio-sessions-despite-covid-soundsmith-st...

2pm, time for breakfast,

Elliott

I have an Enabler in house, haven't used it yet. I understand everyone's argument for and against. There's many positive reviews. Heard of Funk Firm Houdini? The designer says it's his most important achievement yet. Thinking about getting one to compare with the Enabler.

There very well could be benefits to limiting vibrations through cartridge isolation. I’m not sure this should be categorically dismissed as snake oil. What I was reacting to incredulously is how MC believes that addressing these types of vibrations is important while also asserting that vibrations caused by poor tonearm/cart matching can be ignored.

Even his audio heros over at Soundsmith believe compliance matching is important - because vibrations are indeed harmful to sonics.

https://www.sound-smith.com/articles/how-choose-cartridge

Meanwhile MC rants about why anyone should worry about compliance. Apparently F=ma only when convenient to MC.

https://i.postimg.cc/t70jjFHV/MC.jpg

As Emerson once said: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..."

Of course, that will lead to what Tonearm?

Origin Live Conqueror, or Enterprise. I had the old Conqueror MkIII and now have Enterprise MkIV. These are awesome arms! Among the many great features are the hard-wired phono leads. I’ve had both and there is no doubt all the extra connections of an interconnect is not good. Also the quality needed at this level costs a small fortune. Whatever you do go with an arm with integral leads.

Please ignore the gnats. Any time you see someone twisting things around or even making stuff up out of whole cloth that is a sure sign of a weak mind and even weaker argument. Ignore them.

The truth is when using a properly designed tone arm then compliance and other cartridge matching becomes moot. Therefore, whenever you see someone stressing the importance of understanding compliance, mass, etc and talking about matching what you do is make note of which arm they are talking about and cross it off your list.

Then if you really want to save a lot of time and effort do the same for the person telling you how absolutely essential these things are. All you have to do is look at my system, read the listener comments, or heck even come and hear for yourself to get it.

The compliance of a tonearm is what it is - even it's a Enterprise MkIV.  It's a basic fact that high compliance cartridges work better in a low mass arm; medium compliance cartridges work best in a medium mass arm;  and low compliance cartridges work best in a high mass arm.  You can change the mass of a tonearm by changing the headshell.  This is EXACTLY why Origin Live offers multiple headshell weights for the  Enterprise MkIV (2,5, and 10 grams).  These options are available specifically for compliance matching.  While some tonearms do a better job than others building in design features that minimize the potential for unwanted resonances due to compliance, no tonearm is immune - including yours MC - just ask Origin Live.

Again, either all vibrations matter or they don't.  Enjoy your cherry picking  and please stop instructing people to ignore what other posters say - we are all free to read and ignore what we choose based solely on the merits of what is being said.   

Just ordered a Houdini
I’ve always been a believer in trying out for yourself.
All this discourse means nothing.

FWIW, I've used a small amount of blue tac between my cartridge & arm for a few years now & enjoy the added clarity that provides. Still clamp the cartridge down with the screws so it is absolutely solid.  

I was wondering about the Houdini @slaw , let us know how that works. I just gut thru putting the funk firm mat on one of my tables. It’s is so good I bought another for my vpi. If the housing is as good at the mat. I’m in. 

Houdini I mean. 

I'm sure Lewm and Atmasphere shed some light on this.

Cartridge isolation is very important but at what level? This is not difficult at all. The cartridge has to maintain a fixed orientation to the record. ANYTHING that corrupts that relationship like unipivot arms is bad. So the solution is, you isolate the entire turntable or rather the chassis that carries the tonearm and platter. This is the rational behind suspended turntables. They keep the environment from interfering with the cartridge without further corrupting the relationship of the cartridge to the record.
This cartridge isolation pad is beyond silly. What it does is dependent on the surface area of contact as well as the tightness of the screws, two variables that can not be easily controlled not to mention it corrupts that relationship. 

CARTRIDGE ISOLATOR it’s called.

Plinth and Base Isolation put to the side for this:
Jitter within the cartridge’s guts, down the signal wires, put to the side for this:

It’s about Jitter getting into the tonearm and back into the cartridge isn’t it?

It’s about less rigid fastening of the cartridge body, no matter how thin, to the arm isn’t it? This UGLY thing is quite thick.

And, the reviewer (not the isolator’s maker) mentioned a less rigid fastening of the tonearm base to the plinth, a double whammy of some, even if infinitesimal, movement.

Jitter into/back out of the arm, if acknowledged, is unwanted movement, sooooo, isolate from jitter? a speck of isolation (movement) reduces the jitter going/thus reduces the jitter feedback?

That's what makes the Strain-Gauge, supposedly essentially Jitter Free so tempting to me.

Elliot, I am still stewing, because you said “Lew’s thing is ugly”. My wife refuses to comment.

The ugly truth is none of us understands the physics well enough to judge the Enabler out of context, where context is one’s own ears and one’s own audio system. My hunch is that results will vary according to cartridge construction and compliance, headshell composition, tonearm damping, effective mass, and bearing stability, etc. So insults and invective have no place in this discussion. If you’re interested, give it a shot and report back here stating the cartridge and tonearm you use, at minimum. Saying “I loved it”, or “I hated it”, doesn’t help.

https://www.zotefoams.com/product/azote/evazote/1st thing that comes up when I google "closed cell, crosslinked ethylene copolymer" as taken from The Cartridge Mans website. Used in sporting goods.
Anyway, I subscribe to the closed loop philosophy of tying the cartridge to the tonearm to the platter spindle. Any movement or damping of movement between the two will result in an inaccurate reading of the record grooves. Will it sound different? I'm sure but lots of things can make your music sound different, doesn't necessary mean it's better and in almost all cases it isn't.
BillWojo

great find Bill.

same site, variation: added property: static-dissipative

https://www.zotefoams.com/product/azote/plastazote/

lewm, now I know it's Lew M

That was funny, give my apologies to the wife.

It’s about Jitter getting into the tonearm and back into the cartridge isn’t it?

It’s about less rigid fastening of the cartridge body, no matter how thin, to the arm isn’t it? This UGLY thing is quite thick.

And, the reviewer (not the isolator’s maker) mentioned a less rigid fastening of the tonearm base to the plinth, a double whammy of some, even if infinitesimal, movement.

Jitter into/back out of the arm, if acknowledged, is unwanted movement, sooooo, isolate from jitter? a speck of isolation (movement) reduces the jitter going/thus reduces the jitter feedback?

That's what makes the Strain-Gauge, supposedly essentially Jitter Free so tempting to me.

By Jove I think he's got it!  

Sounds like you've been watching Ledermann and know the importance of lowering moving mass. Soundsmith MI carts have much lower moving mass than MC, and strain gauge has even less moving mass than MI. This is huge, and has a lot to do with the outstanding performance. If you read the reviews SG1 is cost no object performance for what works out to be quite reasonably attainable cost.  

This still leaves the question of cartridge vibration control. Always prefer vibration control as more precise than isolation. There is no true isolation ever, but we can tune frequency and amplitude, and this is vibration control. 

With the cartridge we want some combination of materials structured so as to hold the cartridge firmly in a fixed relationship to the head shell, and yet at the same time have just enough flexibility on a micro level to dissipate cartridge vibration and not reflect it all right back down into the stylus.   

MC, It's interesting that you quote Isaac Newton's laws, call people "Einstein" as a form of sarcastic insult to indicate he or she is not brilliant, and use a famous photo of Einstein as your icon.  Yet it was Einstein who displaced Newton's Laws with his Theory of Relativity. Go figure.

Will do @dinov

So many interesting points.

Question, is it not the job of the cantilever to function as suspension along with transferring the vibrations to the motor of the cartridge?

In which case, shouldnt it be the only thing that is vibrating/moving?

If the cartridge is also suspended, would that not remove the accuracy/immediacy/directness of the transfer of energy - as the place where that energy should go, would be damped. In being damped, seems like the energy transfer would be reduced.

"If the cartridge is also suspended, would that not remove the accuracy/immediacy/directness of the transfer of energy - as the place where that energy should go, would be damped. In being damped, seems like the energy transfer would be reduced."
My thinking exactly, sure it will sound different but different in this case won’t be better. What’s the point in buying a great tonearm if the cartridge is only attached loosely, taped to a piece of sponge type material. BillWojo

There are Head Shells available from very reputable Brands with R&D backing their deigns being marketed.
Magnesium Metal milled on the Top Face to receive a damping material is a Head Shell Design that I use.
I am wondering if the Cartridge Separator as a Interface is a lead on from this type of design philosophy.
I am quite familiar with the offerings from Japan and am not aware of a Separator Material being offered by the Brands that I follow.
Is this something that has been missed by them in their R&D, or is this something that they are not able to add any value to their design intent by going down this road ?  

The Separator Devices usually seem to appear on a sales list from fringe Companies offering accessories, and usually at quite High Prices.

I know the exact same material offered by the Cartridge Man was available in Australia for about 70% less ? than the UK price. 

The Houdini Separator entered the Market with a mixed response, and the time spent undertaking Searches and Investigations of the reports are showing that in general it is not always seen to be the ideal interface, and in some cases even though given an approval on initial use, after extended use and trials, it has not been a keeper device for the user.

Possibly a more secure purchase and one that might prove to be a device that commands a long term usage of the device, might be discovered in trying a selection of different Head Shell Materials.
At the least these devices are very saleable once used, and can be discovered as a used sale for a reasonable outlay.
I have sold Head Shells within a few hours of their being advertised without any need to arrange a Sale Price with the buyer.

As said previously a lot of change to the presentation and sound quality is available to be had with a Platter Mat Change.
IME I am still coming to terms with how a 5mm Forex Foam mat that cost approx $12 is my mat of choice for most listening and is against competitors up to $450.
A Forum Member has took the initiative and purchased a Forex Foam Mat and they have recently informed me their Tenuto Mat is resting up on the Album Stack, they are in no rush to reinstate it.      

1. 
   

For only a $40 investment, I bought the Enabler for my $5k turntable with a $4k Soundsmith Paua cartridge. It works and work well. I found it to provide more focus and control without losing any soundstage. It also minimized any thumping going through my speakers when tapping on the plinth with volume cranked. I was convinced enough of its Audible benefits, that I bought another one for my wife’s $1600 tt with a Hana MH MC cartridge. Results were also immediately noticeable for the good on that tt too. I also like the bonus of being able to tweak the tonearm azimuth when using the Enabler.

Enabler Quote:

" The material is similar to a good gasket material, flexible and robust."

Who laughed disparagingly at my idea of digging out my sheet of gasket material for a home made try? I can try one or a few layers.
.......................................

VTA Refinement

If VTA needs refinement in an arm with no adjustment, I would NOT rely on one side tighter: rather very thin sheets of rigid material on one side, like clear rigid plastic page protectors, cut your own rectangular shape, make notches for bolts. Enough layers to solve it: very tedious, dexterity needed. I like more surface area than round washers.

Hint: I stay calmer when I don't have an audience, otherwise I misbehave seeking sympathy rather than dealing with it.

Then, if using an Enabler type, a material with designed vibration dissipation, I would want firm tightness on both sides.

TRY IT Home Made?

Enabler is 1 mm thick I think, I'll start with 1mm of my gasket material.

The Acos Lustre GST 801 arm has the easiest/smoothest VTA on-the fly ever, as well as removable headshell type arm.

I'm gonna get ready, get Arne and Bill over here (that might take a while to coordinate), have a listen together.

I currently have two active MC Cartridges that I like a lot: Goldring Eroica LX Gyger 2 on aluminum and Audio Technica AT33PTG/2 MicroLinear on Boron. (they both use the same loading on the SUT as well).

And, a few MM cartridges mounted in headshells, Shure V15VxMR body with Jico SAS on Boron; AT440ml MicroLine on aluminum. And, my Elliptical: Shure M97xe aging somewhere, or did I give it to my photo friend Bill with my old AT120 TT? (he lives in Vestal NY near McIntosh and Audio Classics). I digress.

.............................

Platter Mat:

After preliminary decisions, I'm also gonna mess this up with alternate platter mats:

1. Existing OEM JVC thick heavy rubber mat
2. Rigid Acrylic
3. Deerskin

With and without the JVC rubber below. Acos solving height changes instantly!

So many interesting points.

Question, is it not the job of the cantilever to function as suspension along with transferring the vibrations to the motor of the cartridge?

No, the only job of the cantilever is to transfer stylus motion to the generator at the other end. The cantilever is really just a shaft, a stick, sometimes a pipe. Cactus needle, in the case of Ledermann and Schroeder.   

Usually somewhere along there the thing runs through a donut of rubber, or elastomer if you want to get fancy about it. That donut, together with whatever it is mounted in that holds it in place, is the suspension.  

In which case, shouldnt it be the only thing that is vibrating/moving?

Yes, but how you figure that is ever gonna happen? Nothing ever moves without making everything around it move. Stylus moves, cantilever moves, suspension moves, and this same thing continues right into the cartridge body, head shell, arm tube, arm bearings, arm base, plinth..... This is the whole point of using special material like the Enabler to help minimize all this harmful vibrating.  

If the cartridge is also suspended, would that not remove the accuracy/immediacy/directness of the transfer of energy - as the place where that energy should go, would be damped. In being damped, seems like the energy transfer would be reduced.

Correct. That is why it is so helpful to distinguish between people like me who are carefully explaining the precise nature of decoupling, and those who leap to all kinds of unwarranted conclusions. 

To wit:

The cartridge however is very low mass and has to track a violently undulating groove. It cannot just be free to move. It must be held rigidly, but yet also in a way that facilitates some vibration to dissipate into the more massive arm, while damping cartridge vibration, and all of this at the same time as not reflecting vibration right back down into the stylus. 

One to remember. Watch for when they over-simplify the complex. Seriously, watch! It is fun, because for sure fifteen minutes later they will be over-complicating the simple!

cartridge bodies with inherent vibration dissipation?

wood bodied cartridges, specially formulated compound bodies, layered construction, IOW: built-in 'enabler' characteristics?

[What about] cartridge bodies with inherent vibration dissipation?

[Such as] wood bodied cartridges, specially formulated compound bodies, layered construction, IOW: built-in ’enabler’ characteristics?

Or the opposite – the so-called "nude" cartridge?

Is Air (eg nude) a "built-in ’ebabler’ characteristic", or is Air an entirely different matter we haven’t covered yet? How do the many nude cartridges fit into this discussion?

And just out of idle curiosity – why are only MCs "nude"? Why no other types – is the only reason the need to stick a new stylus into it from time to time?