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The Arm/Cartridge Matching Myth

When I began my journey in high-end audio 36 years ago….no-one ever wrote about arm and cartridge matching nor tonearm resonant frequency…?
Over the last 10 years or so…this topic has become not only ubiquitous, but has mutated beyond its definition, to THE guiding principle of matching cartridge to tonearm….❓❗️😵
The Resonant Frequency can be calculated using a complex formula relating Tonearm Effective Mass to the cartridge’s Compliance….or it can be simply measured using a Test record of various frequency sweeps.
The RECOMMENDED Resonant Frequency of any tonearm/cartridge combination is between 8-12Hz.
But WHY is this the recommended frequency and WHAT does it really mean…?

The raison d’etre of this Resonant Frequency…is to avoid WARPED records inducing ‘resonance’ into the tonearm…..
Say what…❓😵
WARPED records….❓❗️
Yes…..ONLY warped records❗️😎
But doesn’t it have any meaning for NORMAL records…❓
None whatsoever…..😊👍
Let me explain….🎼

A badly warped record induces the tonearm to rise and fall rapidly on the ‘sprung’ cantilever of the cartridge.
Depending on the severity and frequency of this warping…..a subsonic frequency between 2-5Hz is induced so if your tonearm/cartridge Resonant Frequency dips into this frequency range….it will begin resonating and thus miss-track and/or induce hum through your system.🎤
Keeping the lower limits of your tonearm/cartridge Resonant Frequency to 8Hz simply insures against this possibility.🎶

So what about the 12Hz upper limit…❓
This simply insures against the possibility of any ultra low-level frequency information which MAY be on the record, also inducing this same miss-tracking or hum. For instance if your tonearm/cartridge Resonant Frequency was 18Hz and you had an organ record or one containing synthesised bass going down to 16Hz…..your tonearm may miss-track or you MAY develop a hum❓😢

So how many badly WARPED record do you possess…❓
I have three out of a thousand or so……and have NEVER experienced miss-tracking or hum even on these three…❗️😍

Yet these days….everyone (without exception it seems)…even tonearm and cartridge designers….happily follow the dictum of this Arm/Cartridge MATCH as if it affected sound quality…..❓
This Resonant Frequency has ZERO affect on the sound quality of a particular tonearm/cartridge combination and I have proved it hundreds of times with a dozen different arms and over 40 cartridges.

The best match for ANY cartridge ever made….is simply the very best tonearm you can afford…whatever its Effective Mass…😘
halcro

Showing 7 responses by chakster

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
very interesting issue, you have a phantom of a cartridge
flying like a stealth, invisible for radars
report back

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
... because my arm is a Fidelity Research FR 66s, a very high mass arm which I got because I have several Koetsus, SPU’s, FR7s Denon 103 s and a (Decca) London Reference cartridge.... 

All I can say is that while there may be some improvement possible in another tonearm (who can say there won’t be without trying) what I am hearing is quite astonishing at any price let alone £150... 

This Shure is amazing and I haven’t even started fussing over VTA etc. Given that I’m lucky enough to have a Koetsu Jade with diamond cantilever and London Reference both in Arche headshells and the fanciest silver headshell wires and the Shure is in a  basic headshell with wires from the 1920s it’s even more surprising how good the Shure is.

Welcome to the Moving Magnet world. If you like the result with that Shure cartridge i can only imagine your reaction to some of the best vintage MM/MI that many audiogon members including the OP discovered long time before i jumped in the game. My advise is to continue your search for the killer MM cartridges. I also have FR tonearms (64s and 64fx) and FR-7fz cartridge along with Ikeda 9III and Ikeda IT-345 tonearm, but some rare Moving Magnet cartridges are just superb, i can't do anything about it, they are just great! 

I don't have 66s tonearm, but in fact i enjoyed Pioneer PC-1000 mkII and many more killer MM like Stanton 980 on Lustre GST-801 and on Reed 3p "12 with high-ish mass. In my opinion an MM or MI cartridge is a must have for anyone next to your LOMC on the same turntable for easy comparison. This is where the cheaper cartridge can be better, really. The MM technology is cheaper by default, but nothing wrong with that.  





chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Hi Fi News cartridge lateral and vertical resonance tests. It didn’t actually resonate at any frequency detected on these tests (no idea if that’s good or bad !).

I think it’s impossible
Not like other cartridges from your arsenal ?
The arm normally shaking at resonance frequency with Hi Fi Test LP
maybe you need a magnifying glass to see that (look at the cantilever) ?

I have never seen any cartridge that does not resonate with Hi Fi test LP, even the lowest compliance cartridges such as SPU are shaking at certain frequency. I think i tried at least 50 cartridges.

Also i don't think that suspension can be hardened that much, as i said in another thread the suspension normally softened on old cartridges, not hardened. 



chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
So your saying that a Denon DL-103, a very low compliant cart could run well with an arm like a super light weight Black Widow? I would think that Denon would wiggle that Black Widow furiously at lower frequency's and not much energy would come from the cartridge

good point, it's like SPU on Black Widow
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@larryi same on modern Hi-Fi News TEST LP, but without instruments, just tone. 
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
At the same time so many users that have no idea about tonearm/cartridge resonance are happy with their Denon 103 (5cu @ 100Hz = about 8cu @ 10Hz) on 11-13g tonearms instead of 30g tonearms. They are all over audiogon, lol

It seems like the question about tonearm/cartridge matching is no so important for many audiophiles for some reasons, but this is the basics.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@uberwaltz

You’re extremist, lol
The mass of Black Widow tonearm is less than 5g as far as i know.
I would never do that myself, i’d rather put a cartridge with compliance figure 4 times higher than 8cu. I think this arm designed for very high compliance cartridges (30-50cu)

But it’s good that we have you, so you can tell us more about your experiment to support halcro’s theory.


If you assume about 10g for the mass of the cartridge and plug those data into the equation, the tonearm with 30g effective mass yields Fr = 9.06Hz. For the tonearm with 13g effective mass, Fr = ~12Hz. Both of these results fall into the category of "acceptable".

@lewm What if the mass of the arm is less than 5g ?

Personally, i have no reason to use low compliance cartridges on light mass tonearms, but i did it on Technics, i think that an improvement on heavy "12 inch Schick was obvious, at least for me.

But i tried high-ish compliance cartridges (30cu) on 20g tonearm and it was OK, but it wasn’t my favorite combination (or not my favorite cartridge). Normally i am following the golden rules with my cartridges and tonearms.

P.S. I can remember only one problematic sample of low compliance cartridge that miss track on properly matched tonearm. It was Ortofon SPU cartridge on Schick. I returned the cartridge to the seller, because it wasn't the arm or setting problem. Clearly factory defect.  




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