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Compliant - definition

I cannot seem to locate in the search engine the definition of a compliant cartridge. Can one of you analogue experts please explain exactly what compliant / compliance means with respect to phono cartridge / tonearm. I only have a very vague idea. Thank you in advance. -EJC
ericjcabrera

Showing 2 responses by dan_ed

dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
I think this is what Eric is looking for, if he hasn't already read this part. ;-)

* A tonearm whose effective mass is rated at 10 grams or below is considered low mass (e.g. early SME’s, Grace 747 etc.). A tonearm whose effective mass is rated between 11 and 25 grams is considered moderate mass (e.g. SME 309, IV, IV-Vi, V, Triplanar, Graham). Arms above 25 grams of mass are high mass in nature (Eminent Technology, Dynavector).

* A phono cartridge whose compliance is rated at 12 x l0ˉ6 or below, is considered low compliance. A cartridge whose compliance is rated between 13 x l0ˉ6 and 25 x l0ˉ6 is considered high to very high. Note: Another way of expressing compliance is um/mN. Here a rating of 5 to 10 is considered very low, 10 to 20 is moderate and above 35 is very high.

* Low mass arms mate well with both moderately high and very high compliance phono cartridges.

* Moderate mass tonearms are good companions for moderate to low compliance cartridges.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Don't forget to take into account the mass of the cart also. I always cheat and look it up in the cartridgedb. :-) But always remember that these numbers are a guide, YMMV.
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