Sonic traits of high-compliance carts?

Paperw8,

Right, of course. Cartridge/arm matching is pretty much a given - no cart can perform at it's best (or anywhere close) if mounted on arm with an inappropriate effective mass. Or the wrong bearing type - they say that these high-compliance carts like the vintage arms with someone "lose" bearings, right? It seems to be true.

I think of it this way: the stylus is attached to the cantilever and the cantilever is attached to a suspension in the cartridge body (which allows the cantilever to follow the groove). I think of the suspension as being a spring and the compliance is a measure of how "stiff" or "loose" the spring is. Low compliance corresponds to a stiffer spring and high compliance corresponds to a looser spring. I think what I am calling a "spring" you are calling a "bearing" but it's the same idea.

SHURE ULTRA 500 and V15V-MR with 30+ cu´s on 5 g effective mass wand of SME III  track 100 microns (when very accurately adjusted) at 1.0-1.2 mN VTF.
IME since 1987 superlative sound quality, especially the ULTRA with nuances and dynamics to die for. HC SHURE with vintage very low mass SME III or 3009 works perfectly.

Harold
Is that with the Silicon damping trough?

Yes. I never tried without, might be even better ? Its silicon oil reservoir is easy to adjust/remove.