Graham Phantom B44 Specs

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.