Graham Phantom B44 Specs

Dear Fld: I agree with Syntax on that useless tonearm/cartridge resonance calculation.

IMHO don'tb worry about. I already linked to you facts/experiences similar to Syntax ones in your other thread.

Of course that maybe you only want to made/make the calculation " just for fun ", but if you are trying to make tonearm/cartridge choices with IMHO you are wasting your time instead enjoying/listening your system/music.

regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Agree with Syntax and Raul. The only thing that resonance frequency calculation will do is prevent a gross mismatch. Otherwise it's a mildly interesting waste of time. (Of course, as Raul said, if that's the kind of thing you enjoy, you'll enjoy it!)

Assuming no gross mismatch, that calculation will tell you nothing about how a cartridge and arm will perform together sonically. Experience with the actual combination is the only way to know that, and Syntax apparently has plenty with the Phantom. Further, I'd surmise that the Phantom's damping facility should make it possible to handle the stray energies eminating from many different cartridges, which is what arm-cartridge matching is actually about.

Oh, how to avoid a "gross mismatch"? Simple. Whatever the Phantom's exact effective mass, it's reasonable to call it "medium". The arm is neither a flyweight nor a beast. So just avoid very light or very heavy cartridges and also avoid very compliant or very non-compliant suspensions. That guarantees you won't have a gross mis-match.

Choose your cartridge based on:
1. your budget,
2. the capabilities of your phono stage,
3. the kind of sound you prefer, and
4. the one that makes you smile when you look at it.

Less fuss, more tunes,
Doug

Thanks again for the help guys! enjoyed reading your experiences, etc.
Mr Graham replied to my email.
This is what he has to say.

"Effective mass is around 14 grams; the actual number is not so important, as sometimes the cartridge measurements change from company to company. What you're looking for in all cases is a system resonant frequency of between 8-12hz, with low "Q" (amplitude).. Most good MC and MM cartridges work just fine in the Phantom..."

I was playing around with the cartridge resonance evaluator from the vinyl engine.
For kicks I went thru needledoctor website and picked out some cartridges i may / may not use in the future.

For example, gold ring cart has 8 hz, benz wood was 9 hz, lyra dorian & mysonic labs has 10 hz, shelter 501 has 11 hz,a denon 103 has 15 hz.

Most of the carts i choose fall into that 8hz to 12 hz frequency. Now, is there such a thing that 8hz is better than 12 hz or vice versa ?
Just in the same way, in theory, a denon 103 with 15 hz sounds pretty off, but if one does mount that cart in a phantom, what is suppose to happen ? does it get tracking errors ?

I know in the end, its the listening that counts, i appreciate all your inputs and agree that at the end of the day, its what the result counts. But my question is, for education purpose, what does these number tell me ? and is the lower or higher number to be desired ?

Thanks all.....

Syntax,

thanks for chiming in.
If you don't mind sharing, which carts (s) you tried didn't work too well with the Phantom arm ?

Many thanks in advance for sharing this info.

Most of the carts i choose fall into that 8hz to 12 hz frequency.

Sigh, isn't that exactly what I said above? Choose any mid-weight cartridge (most of them) with medium compliance (most of them) and you'll be fine. The Denon is low compliance, which is why it falls outside the range.

Now, is there such a thing that 8hz is better than 12 hz or vice versa ?

Oy! Please read what people have already written.

If you're between 8 and 12 you've avoided a "gross mis-match". You're neither so high that the cartridge is likely to be excited by musical information on the record (which tends to be at 16Hz and above) nor so low that the cartridge is likely to be excited by footfalls or resonances from the floor/stand (which tends to be at 6Hz and below).

As Syntax, Raul and I have suggested, that is ALL this number can teach you. There is no "better" between 8.5 Hz or 10.3 Hz or whatever. Stop obsessing about numbers. Start finding out how different cartridges sound when playing music.