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Compliance & Efffective Mass Question

Hi Folks:
I've a ZYX Universe S-SB cartridge that I'm running on a budget Airtech tonearm (http://airtech.atspace.com/), and a Teres 255 turntable. Phono Stage is my Supratek Syrah full function preamp.

I've never paid much attention to anything about 'compliance' or 'effective mass', and am not sure how to even calculate such things. Is there some guidance that someone could offer me on how to measure the above, what an appropriate relationship/ratio should be, and if my setup is 'off', what steps I might take to better optimize my setup?

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips! I'm keen to get the best out of what should be a great vinyl rig - I do like the sound a lot, but there is the odd track or passage that seems to produce some sibilance or distortion, and I've always wonderered whether there is something awry with my setup that might be remedied by some alteration.
128x128outlier
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Your UNI is a med to med-low compliance (15) cartridge and would be happiest in a tonearm of med to high effective mass (Graham, SME V, TriPlanar), which I think your MG Airtech is not. You've added the silver ZYX plate but that may not be enough. I see you can get a damping trough for that tonearm, and that might help, but I'm always suspicious of what they can do to the sonics of some cartridges.

If you're happy with your tonearm, then you should ask Lin what the effective mass of his tonearm is and plug the numbers into the interactive compliance matching chart at:
www.cartridgedb.com

I suppose he could make you an armwand with higher mass if necessary.
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dgad
782 posts
 
My ZYX has a measured compliance of 5. My tonearm has an effective mass of 18gms. and the resonant vertical & horizontal frequencys are 14 Hz each. This indicate a 5 rating. I need to increase the mass of my tonearm by over 10 gms.
1musiclover
58 posts
 
Try this:

http://www.cartridgedb.com/

I've found this to be "plug and play" so to speak.
I've used, but I cannot, however, verify its accuracy.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Outlier,

I'm not familiar with your arm so I'll mostly defer to the good posts others have made on that subject. Just one suggestion, get a copy of the HFNRR record and measure your resonance frequencies. If they're somewhere around 8-12Hz then you have no problems and can stop worrying about it, except for purely technical interest.

I'll also offer a possibly unwelcome insight, with apologies for any unintentional upset. Your preamp is a serious roadblock to getting the best from a cartridge at the level of the UNIverse. This cartridge is capable of much more than a Syrah can reproduce. A stronger preamp should be near the top of your wish list.

Doug
dgad
782 posts
 
I am checking over time if the compliance changes. I also find some cartridges compliance to not be to specification. I would suggest the airtech might be too light an arm for a cartridge with a compliance of 15 or less, especially the ZYX. It seems to prefer Gimballed arms and high mass. On the other hand other cartridges with medium compliance prefer some linear tracking arms, and some medium - low compliance cartridges work better in Unipivots. The rules are general guides with many caveats.
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