Tonearm microphonics

Wasn't there a reviewer many years ago who wrote cartridge reviews based on the sound he heard when tapping on the tonearm resting on a platter?

The Townshend Rock line of tables use a trough which I believe address this and other issues of resonance when playing records - I think professor Dinsdale did a white paper on this issue - a google search ought to help you to locate this.

If an arm is not stiff enough and/or it does not have enough self damping (does not effectivelyt dissipate the energy of its vibration as heat), the vibrations imparted by the cartridge will feed back excessively to the cartridge and this will affect the sound.  That is why, designers try hard to maximize stiffness and internal damping within the constraints of having to keep the arm from being too massive.

But, theory aside, not everyone likes the sound of those arms that maximize both stiffness and damping.  I have not heard it, but, a friend heard the SAT tonearm (exraordinarily stiff and damped) and thought it sounded a bit too clinical and lifeless.  Some tonearm manufacturers offer an assortment of different materials used in the tonearm shaft to tune the particular resonance of the arm to a particular cartridge or personal preference of the owner (e.g., Shroeder).

If you have ever played with liquid damping of tonearms (changing the level of fluid in a damping trough on an SME or the level in the bearing cup of an arm like the Basis Vector), it is quite easy to hear how changing the amount of damping affects the sound.  It is hardly the case that maximizing damping results in the best sound.

I know a lot of people would like improvement in audio to be a simple case of increase this or decrease that, but, it is actually far more complex than that.  So much of it involves "tuning" and matching things in a complementary fashion and making the right compromises.  

Dear @atmasphere : Totally wrong. The sound not comes from the tonearm: it can't be that way. Sound comes from the cartridge, that's the difference. Infection is hearing the sound from the speakers.

"  When I have the volume at my normal level.... "


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Clearthink,  You wrote, "A microphone converts sound to an electrical signal by employing the use of a diaphragm. A cartridge is actually a tiny electrical generator that uses a stylus/cantilever to create the signal using a magnet and coil and the stylus/cantilever is excited NOT by sound but by the motion of the stylus/cantilever in the record groove!" 

Cartridges may not be (identical to) "microphones", but they ARE "microphonic".  In your zeal to insult Raul, you have gone off the track.  If you doubt me (or Raul), try shouting at your cartridge when your phono system is activated and phono gain is present.  As microphones, cartridges are less efficient than actual microphones, but they are very similar in concept. Both depend upon physical excitation to convert mechanical energy into an electrical signal. They are more alike than different.  Also, cut back on the caffeine; that may help.