Cartridge Compliance


As a layman I need some basic help with determining the compliance of a cartridge. If the manufacture identifies compliance at 100Hz as 7×10-6cm/dyne how do you convert that to a compliance number similar to 16 µm/mN. Also what numbers would indicate high, medium and low compliance. I have review the forum and found a lot of info on compliance but not the answer to these questions. Thanks for your help
sgunther
Hi, there's no simple method for converting 100Hz compliance (cu) to standard 10Hz cu. The conversion is a sliding scale. 100Hz cu of 6.5 = 15cu @ 10Hz. 10cu @ 100Hz = 18cu @ 10Hz. So 7cu @100Hz is around 16cu @ 10Hz. In general 15cu (10Hz) and below is low compliance. Up to 20cu is med, above that is high.

Matching compliance to arm mass isn't always straightforward. Sometimes a cart will perform better outside of predicted best range of eff mass. IMO it's prudent to ask about a particular match. For example, the Denon DL-S1 is 14cu @100Hz. That would indicate high compliance, yet the cart seems to do better in med mass arms. On the other hand, if you're looking at a MM like the AT7V (7cu @100Hz), that should be fine on a med mass arm.
Regards,
Thank you for your responses and i read the GC Audio piece but i still don't know how to convert the 7×10-6cm/dyne to a 16 µm/mN equivalent. what do cm and dyne represent in the formula and what are the equivalent numbers to insert. Let me reiterate i am a layman in this regard. Thanks
**Hi, there's no simple method for converting 100Hz compliance (cu) to standard 10Hz cu**

Compliance is a measure of springiness. Dyne is a unit of force. The 2 different expressions are identical, it's the test frequency that's different.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/143804-convert-cm-dyne-um-mn.html
Cu can be measured in both horizontal and vertical planes. Some think horiz is more telling than vert, which is normally specified. In reality, tracking is 3 dimensional. The GC explanation is a simplification that is somewhat misleading, but has the right idea. If you're looking for further explanation, I suggest google.
Regards,