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Old 21st Mar 2017, 5:56 am   #3
stevehertz
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,830
Default Re: Is blu tak the magic cheapo option for non audiophiles?

If you've "packed the inside of the headshell with blu tak" it sounds very likely that the combined mass of the headshell + cartridge has been changed greatly - we're talking about things that weigh a few grams here. It's all very well re-balancing the arm and cartridge for the correct tracking weight but the mass of everything affects its resonant frequency. Cartridges and arms/headshells have to be matched in order that the low frequency resonance falls within of a certain band. Not too high as to affect normal listening and not so low that it will become excited by external vibrations.

It's quite complex, but it's explained in this web page from which I extract the following quote. The problem or issue being, does the resonance of your cartridge/arm/headshell combination now fall outside that critical band?:

"Resonant Frequency (of the cantilever) The acoustic frequency at which the cantilever will become excited and vibrate out of control. )) This frequency is measured in cycles per second. Also referred to as 'hz'. Resonant frequency of a cantilever is regarded as inescapable and the effect is controlled by manipulating this frequency to exist in a range below human hearing but not so low that it will become excited by external vibrations such as foot fall disturbance or that of a warped record. This ideal frequency range is 8 to 12 hz. The lowest of low organ notes rarely go below 20 hz. Footfall and record warps happen below 6 hz.

"The effective mass of a tonearm in combination with the compliance of the cartridge cantilever serves to determine where the resonant frequency of a given tonearm/cartridge match up will be. In general terms, arms with high effective mass fitted with cartridges of high compliance result in resonant frequencies that fall below the ideal range. At the opposite end, arms with low effective mass mated to cartridges of low compliance result in resonant frequencies above the desired range. Both extremes are to be avoided."


http://www.theanalogdept.com/cartrid...m_matching.htm

In practical terms you need to know the total mass of your blu tak, headshell, cartridge and arm (summed) and using the attached graph, mate it to a cartridge with a stated compliance that used together falls within the shaded area of the graph. Outside that and you're asking for trouble. So for example if you had an effective mass of 15g and a cartridge with a stated compliance of 17CUs, then if you look at where these two points intersect on the graph, it's 10Hz, within the shaded area, so you're fine, it's within the desired band of 8 to 13Hz.

Saying all of that, being as you say that your set up is now free from resonances (you may not hear them though!!) it could well be that your set up is ok. You need to check things out according to the graph. I suggest you weigh your blu tak separately and add it to the published mass figures for the arm, cartridge and headshell. FYI, the AT95E has a moderately high compliance of 20 x 10-6 cm/dyne, so apart from anything else (resonance wise) it needs a low/more medium mass arm/headshell combination in order to track nicely.
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