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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

Showing 2 responses by fleib

fleib
1,124 posts
 
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,
fleib
1,124 posts
 
**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,
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