Woofer pumping - what gives?


Some years ago I noticed that regardless of the speakers, cartridge or preamp in the circuit my woofers pump wildly out of control the more I advance the volume while playing an LP. They don't seem to be responding to the musical signal but something else. The sound is fine. My humble rig is a Dual 1219 with a NOS Shure M91ED cartridge. Tapes made from the same LP's do not exhibit this odd behavior. Who knows why woofers look like they're going nuts while playing an LP?
rockvirgo

Showing 1 response by sktn77a

The above answer is correct. The reason you don't see this with the tapes is that they don't go below 20HZ. You are seeing arm/cartridge resonance because the effective mass of your arm is too high for the compliance of your cartridge. This sub-sonic "signal" is actually using up a lot of your amplifier's power reserve. You could reduce this by buying a lower compliance cartridge or, if it doesn't bother you and you don't notice it, just live with it.