Audio Technica AT150Sa
Weight 8.0g,
Static Compliance 40 x 10-6 cm/dyne,
Dynamic Compliance 10 x 10-6 cm/dyne (100Hz)
Pro-Ject the classic turntable
Effective Arm Mass: 13.5 g
Resonant frequency of arm/cartridge: 7.5Hz
Look like arm/cartridge mismatch is the problem !
@imhififan If
AT’s compliance is 10cu @ 100Hz you have to convert it first to 10Hz and it will be about 17cu @ 10Hz (Mid Compliance).
13.5 (tonearm mass) + 8g (cartridge weight) = 21.5g and you can add hardware too, probably 23g total.
The you can cross the lines (17cu and 23g) and it will be around 8Hz which is
OK according to Ortofon:
Resonance frequency can be calculated by using the formula
f = 1000 : (2 x π x √ (M x C)) where:
f - Cartridge resonance frequency in Hz
π - 3.14159265359...
C - Cartridge compliance lateral in µm/mN
M - Total tonearm system mass which is a sum of Mass of cartridge, Mass of headshell and screws and Effective mass of tone arm (all values in gram).
• Resonance frequency within 7-12Hz is optimal for the system.
• Resonance frequency slightly outside optimal interval 6,5-7Hz and 12-14Hz can be considered as a possible that probably can be used without problems.
• Resonance frequency outside the interval 6,5-7Hz and 12-14Hz is questionable, and the system might not work properly.
The OP could use the lightest possible mounting screws to reduce the mass slightly. Or to remove stylus protector on AT if it's possible (to reduce the weight of the cartridge).
Or to find a slightly lower compliance cartridge for that tonearm, for example a cartridge with 15cu @ 10Hz like Pickering
XSV/3000SP will be a perfect match if we will
check this (the resonance will be in desired range for 15cu compliance and toneam/cartridge mass near 21-23g).
BUT some people does not care about resonance frequency at all,
here is the thread about it.