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I don't know that it has strictly to do with the formula for resonant frequency, but my Koetsu Urushi did not come into its own until I mounted it in a headshell/tonearm with much higher effective mass (Ortofon LH9000 that weighs 18g by itself, on a FR64S tonearm). Prior to that it sounded good but not transcendent on my Triplanar. |
You will find plenty of guys here eager to tell you all about the importance of mass and compliaal\[fisa[d iu ]asu fklfgn;alfhg; sorry, this subject is so exciting I dozed off. My Koetsu Black Goldline is used on a 13 year old Origin Live Conqueror arm. Pretty sure both the arm and the cartridge have mass. Whether that mass is "medium" (whatever the hell that means) I haven't the foggiest. One thing I know from actual experience, this Koetsu on this arm sounds freaking fantastic! This triggers folks but I don't know why. Not like it's any big secret. Not like they aren't all invited to come and hear for themselves. So I guess if you can figure out to what degree (if any) my arm is "medium mass" then you will have your "medium mass" answer. Another thing I know for sure, this business of compliance and mass is pure theory. On that score I am in perfect agreement with Origin Live founder Mark Baker: "theory bears little or no relation to reality." https://www.originlive.com/faq-items/cartridges-work-well-origin-live-arm/ I am on the same page as Mark Baker. A very good place to be. |
In fact, according to the internet, your tonearm (Origin Live Conqueror) has an effective mass of 19g, so it is on the upper edge of the category of "medium mass", whatever that is. In fact, can someone define "medium effective mass", for a tonearm? In my mind, it's from about 10-11g to about 15-18g, but I have no idea what other people are thinking when they quote the term "medium mass". Regardless of the jargon, the resonant frequency of your OLC plus Koetsu should be well within the recommended range of 8 to 12Hz, so your combo sheds no light on your claim that the relationship is unimportant. Maybe it is; maybe it isn't. I don't assign too much importance to it either. I have no idea who Mark Baker is, but the calculation is theoretical, because in fact we usually don't really know with any degree of accuracy what actually is the effective mass of our tonearm/cartridge/headshell hardware or the compliance of our particular cartridge sample. (Compliance may change due to age and use of any cartridge and due to sample to sample variability.) In that sense, the result of the equation is theoretical. But the equation itself is solid physics. |
The only thing I can add to Lewm's excellent post is that you always use a disc with horizontal and vertical resonance tracks and test it yourself. Starting out with a lighter arm is safe. You can always add mass but it can be very tough to remove it. My guess is that you will have to add some. Soundsmith sells and excellent set of graded cartridge mounting knurled screws. https://sound-smith.com/accessories/ez-mount-cartridge-screws I like to get it as low as possible about 8 Hz. My experience with subwoofers is that this improves the bass. Not what you hear but what you feel. |
- 15 posts total