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tonearm/cartridge matching, mass/damping/tweaking

I'm reading more and more, here and mostly elsewhere about matching cartrdge compliance to tonearm mass. Of course, the wonderful but also dreaded Denon 103/103r s are front in centre in most debates.
I recently swapped out my denon 103 for my nos GAS Sleeping Beauty and perceived a better overall sound although it just may be a better overall cart too, who knows?
I am running a Linn Akito 2b arm which is said to be a little low on the mass side for the Denon 103 at I think 11 grams. i have seen some raging debates with guys saying their black widow (really low mass) arm matches just great with a 103, and a mass proponent saying that you need at least 25 gram mass arm for the 103R (although his 'perfectly matched' jelco 750d is ironically an 18g mass arm....). being a sucker for punishment I have on order both a 301mkii and a 103r (my audiophile nervosa has ingrained me with the fear that 'they' may stop making cartridges - after all, I have read that the venerable technicss DD tables have been discontinued). Now, I could simply likely sell my Akito 2B and buy a Jelco 750db and be done with it. resurrect my light headshell for use with the 301 and start having swapping fun. WTF, I could prolly also build up an outboard tonearm stand and run a 12" jelco outside my SOTA opposite the akito2b and turn into a real freak (sorry to all you freaks out there, you know what you are ;-)).
I have read some possible arm tuning damping ideas too that dont smell of overdoing it. One being laying a couple of pieces of tonearm litz between the cart and the headshell when mounting to decouple slightly. Another is the adddition of herbie's hal-o jr's to the arm wand which is cheap maybe effective and readily reversible (unlike wrapping the wand).
i gotta wonder just how accurate some of these mass and compliance calcs are too. ironically, i had to use a supplied sheet of what appears to be lead with my GAS to give it sufficient weight to use with this arm and it is only a few grams less than the denon....
Any thoughts, ideas, current thinking on the mass vs compliance issues?
mickeyf

Showing 2 responses by corby

corby
80 posts
 
i am one of those "freaks" that you describe...
i have a number of arms and tables. the biggest challenge to fit a cartridge is my breuer 8C. it is said to like low mass cartridges, as does the black widow. well, the best fit for my breuer has been a heavier wood body benz micro H20 and the best fit for my black widow is the denon 103. i also have a moerch up4, yellow dot tube, which sounds spectacular with the benz H20. now that arm tube and cartridge do match for mass loading. i am also happy with the sound of my davinci grandezza using a benz ebony, even though the arm likes a cartridge 10gms heavier.
so don't get too messed up with mass loading/matching. it's a trial and error thing. some arms and some cartridges are more sensitive than others.
btw, that outboard arm pod that you mentioned is well worth the effort. i designed and built one. the sound improvement in detail and bass reproduction is amazing. check out pics in my gallery here.
don
corby
80 posts
 
mickey
to answer your question on the arm pod:
the three feet do come to points for adjusting azimuth. the knurled knob on the side locks in the post that raises and lowers for adjusting stylus rake angle via the micrometer on the top of the post (can be done on the fly).
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