Lornoah,
Since you asked a theoretical question you may have been seeking a theoretical answer without regard to specific cartridges. (That's my excuse for this post and I'm stickin' to it!)
SHORT ANSWER
It depends on the compliance of the cartridge. If VPI is recommending cartridges based only on mass, without regard to compliance, they are providing incomplete information that will lead to unpredictable results.
LONG ANSWER
Every cartridge/tonearm combination has a "resonance frequency" (or frequencies) which, if encountered, will send the system into mechanical feedback-enhanced oscillation. Picture a car with bad shocks going over a big bump. The car continues to bounce up and down on its springs long after passing the bump. Now imagine the same car going over a regular series of such bumps. Given adequate acceleration, the car would actually launch itself into mid-air. Bam!
Now imagine the road is made of vinyl and the car's tires are made of sharpened diamonds... :-(
Resonance frequencies cannot be eliminated, but they can be predicted. Therefore, the best we can do is choose components whose resonance frequency is unlikely to be encountered in real world playback. This is the first goal of cartridge/tonearm mass-matching.
Resonance frequencies between 8-12Hz are widely considered safest. Anything higher starts to approach the LF information on some records. Anything lower starts to approach the natural frequency of record warps, footfalls, building movements, etc.
To estimate the resonance frequency of any particular cartridge and tonearm, one needs three data points:
- effective mass of the tonearm
- mass of the cartridge
- compliance of the cartridge
Theoretical statements about cartridge/arm compatibility based on only two of these data points are meaningless.
Since you asked a theoretical question you may have been seeking a theoretical answer without regard to specific cartridges. (That's my excuse for this post and I'm stickin' to it!)
SHORT ANSWER
It depends on the compliance of the cartridge. If VPI is recommending cartridges based only on mass, without regard to compliance, they are providing incomplete information that will lead to unpredictable results.
LONG ANSWER
Every cartridge/tonearm combination has a "resonance frequency" (or frequencies) which, if encountered, will send the system into mechanical feedback-enhanced oscillation. Picture a car with bad shocks going over a big bump. The car continues to bounce up and down on its springs long after passing the bump. Now imagine the same car going over a regular series of such bumps. Given adequate acceleration, the car would actually launch itself into mid-air. Bam!
Now imagine the road is made of vinyl and the car's tires are made of sharpened diamonds... :-(
Resonance frequencies cannot be eliminated, but they can be predicted. Therefore, the best we can do is choose components whose resonance frequency is unlikely to be encountered in real world playback. This is the first goal of cartridge/tonearm mass-matching.
Resonance frequencies between 8-12Hz are widely considered safest. Anything higher starts to approach the LF information on some records. Anything lower starts to approach the natural frequency of record warps, footfalls, building movements, etc.
To estimate the resonance frequency of any particular cartridge and tonearm, one needs three data points:
- effective mass of the tonearm
- mass of the cartridge
- compliance of the cartridge
Theoretical statements about cartridge/arm compatibility based on only two of these data points are meaningless.