CartridgeCompatability:Arm/Amp Most Important?

Raquel: I was addressing warps not turntable rumble. The link below is very well written and worth reading.

http://www.theanalogdept.com/cartridge___arm_matching.htm

The 8 Hz. - 12 Hz. resonant frequency, regardless of the cartridge/arm combo, is usually not an issue with good modern tables due to their low rumble.

Dan-ed is correct that it's the other interactions between cartridges and arms, much higher up in frequency, that are important. These issues are highly complex and still not well understood, and unfortunately, they are very difficult to predict - the only way is to try a particular combo and wish for the best.

I believe the low frequency cartridge/arm interaction is important for tracking a record that is not absolutely flat as well.

Dan-ed is of course correct that it all matters. I think its helpful to think of the cart/arm as a single component. It is a transducer whose function is to convert the physical characteristics of the LP groove into an electrical current which will be modified and amplified by the phono stage. Taht said, I have no experience with your arm.

Notice in all of those references linked above that none of them tell you any thing about what will happen in the frequency ranges you can actually hear. That is not to say that the resonant frequency matching should be ignored, but it certainly tells us very little about how the particular arm/cart combo will sound like.

For example, there will always be vibrations in the arm and how these vibrations are ultimately handled has a great deal to do with the bearings and other parts of the arm. How well the arm/cart, and don't discount how important the base this is all mounted to is, deal with these vibrations will be heard while you play a record even though the RF calculation says you have an ideal match.

Then we get to the phono stage and the cartridge interaction. Perhaps you have heard people talk about fast and slow cartridges, as well as phono stages. A.k.a, slew rate. This is a reference to how quickly a component can produce a very low note and then transition to a very high note. A slow cartridge with a fast phono stage can sound rich, syrupy, etc. A fast cartridge with a slow phono stage can sound harsh, edgy, a little distorted.

That is the unfortunate thing, it is all important in the end.

The choice of the cartridge depends on the characteristics of the arm (and the budget of course). The basic rule is that the arm must have an optimal weight in relation to the compliance of the cartridge, which is determined by their resonance frequency, which must be between 8-10 Hz (some set a ceiling at 11 or 12 Hz). This means that the light arm requires a cartridge with high compliance and vice versa. The website
http://www.fl-electronic.de/analog/tonarme.html
shows the Lustre's effective mass, which is 10 grams. A table obtained at Vinylengine for this effective mass shows data (compliance and weight) for appropriate/optimal cartridge:
http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_resonance_evaluator.php?eff_mass=10&submit=Submit

See also:
http://www.theanalogdept.com/cartridge___arm_matching.htm
or
http://www.mh-audio.nl/MySystem/RF.asp
or
http://www.resfreq.com/resonancecalculator.html
etc.

P.S. There is an online information about Acos Lustre STA-801's cartridge weight range, which is 13.5g – 28 g (including headshell).