How to change effective mass of a SME V.


I have a SME V. Its effective mass is quoted as 10-11. I wish to alter this to around 15-16. If I add mass to the headshell (and know how much) and crank the counterweight back how can I accurately re-calculate the ffective mass? The cartridge is 9.1 Gm, compliance 6. I know that the arm resonant frequency will change as well.

Regards Geoff
clarkie

Showing 2 responses by stanwal

No, the low compliance cartridges REQUIRED more mass to work effectively. Low compliance means that it takes more mass to bend the stylus a given amount. When you have insufficient mass the stylus will not properly follow the groove. Imagine a very stiff shock absorber that is intended for a heavy auto. Put it on a light auto and it will hop from bump to bump. The tracking weight will be the same but if the arm has insufficient mass it will be easily deflected, the more massive arm will absorb a warp [ for example] more easily as it will allow the cantilever to flex to accommodate it. So the more massive arm works better precisely because it allows the cantilever to move more, the lighter arm will allow the arm to move rather than the cantilever.
It's complicated enough, during the "Compliance races" of the 70s some cartridges had such a high compliance that they would have worked best with an arm of NEGATIVE mass. If you had ever seen a Transcripters Vestigial arm you would not have believed it, held together with thread. High rigidity was out of the question. The Technics linear tracking tables worked quite well, linear arms cam be very good but expensive to implement well at the highest level.