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High compliance and low mass or?

Hi,

In researching cartridges for an upgrade, I am trying to determine which type of cartridge would be best suited for my SME 309 tonearm -- a high compliance, low mass cartridge like a Zyx? Or, would a cartridge with lower compliance but higher mass like a Dynavector DV-1 work better? Does it make a difference at all since both cartridges have a resonant freq of about 10Hz?
1musiclover
janvoornb3bc
13 posts
 
You write:

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Does it make a difference at all since both cartridges have a resonant freq of about 10Hz?
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A cartridge does not have uch a thing like resonant frequency!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Or, would a cartridge with lower compliance but higher mass like a Dynavector DV-1 work better?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A lower cart mass will allways work better. If not the low mass decreases it's body - stiffness. And I do not know the ZYX's campliance.

And I am not a fan of the descriptions: "high compliance" or "low mass" . Because I allways miss the personal opinions at those moments of what would be high or what would be low. Limitless terms......

IMHO a 309 is heavier tahn 9.5 gr. And that is called medium- light? Again a useless personal sticker on it. I never was fond of those classifications.
1musiclover OP
58 posts
 
Janvoom,

Perhaps you're right. I should have written more specifically, "Does it make a difference at all since both cartridges PRODUCE a resonant freq of about 10Hz?"

Is that better?

Perhaps if you were to do a little research, you would find very easily the manuf's specs for both the effective mass of the SME 309 (which is exactly 9.5 grams) and the horizontal and lateral compliance of ZYX cartridges.
dogpile
118 posts
 

1musiclover

To answer your initial question, I think what you need is a medium/heavy cartridge with medium compliance. Since your SME 309 has an effective mass of 9.5g, a typical ZYX cartridge is around 5g + another 4g with the added silver base which is recommended and required if you decide on a ZYX with your SME. You will need the added weight for a proper match.

The end result is 9.5g (arm) + 9g ( 5g. ZYX + 4g. silver base) = 18.5g - ZYX compliance is 15 x 10(-6) cm/dyne (horizontal) / 12 x 10(-6) cm/dyne (vertical). This is a great match.

The Dynavector will be a poor match (at least on paper).

just my 2 cents
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