Tonearm Resonance Calculator
A cartridge and tonearm form a spring and mass system. If they resonate in the 8-12 Hz window, warps and footfalls stay below it and music stays above it. Enter the specs from both manuals.
Result
- Resonance frequency
- 10.5 Hz
- Verdict
- Good match
- Total moving mass
- 19 g
- Compliance used (10 Hz)
- 12
- Mass for exactly 10 Hz
- 21.1 g (add 2.1 g)
Effective mass is in the tonearm manual. If your arm has a detachable headshell, check whether its weight is already included. Treat the result as a guide: a few hertz either side of the ideal window rarely causes audible problems.
How this calculator works
Resonance frequency = 1000 / (2 x pi x square root of (total mass in grams x compliance in 10^-6 cm/dyne)), which is the same as 159 / square root of (mass x compliance). Total mass = arm effective mass + cartridge + hardware.
Compliance quoted at 100 Hz is lower than the 10 Hz figure that matters here, so we multiply it by 1.7, a common rule-of-thumb conversion. 8-12 Hz is the target window, with 10 Hz as the sweet spot.
Add this calculator to your site
Free to use on your blog, shop, forum or class page. Paste the code into any HTML block. Please keep the credit link.