Tone arm effective mass?

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Wammer
Wammer
Feb 13, 2010
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What is effective mass as say compared to mass. I have read that you add the tone arms effective mass to that of the cart and the headshell to get an overall effective mass.

Is tonearm effective mass just the weight of the wand or is it some measure of the wands inertia once balanced and what is the reference for the measure?

I assume that what we are trying to match is high inertia tonearms to low inertia carts and vice versa to acheive a balanced assembly of correct resonance (10 to 12 Hz ish).

Of course, within that broader match is the issue of tonearm resonance and the resonance of the balanced assembly. The former being effected by material and structural form the latter by cartridge inertia (Q) and tracking weight?

Just trying to get this straight in my head. One of the claims made for the balancing system in my Micro Seiki (spring loaded dynamic) is that it allows for a better match to low compliance carts by effectively increasing the effective mass of the tonearm. I assume this is achieved by increasing inertia to change of acceleration more effectively with a spring than with gravity alone?

If effective mass is more effected by cart and headshell weight, then surely the best arms to go for are those that have a light and stiff structure better to manage resonance within the arm tube itself, rather than a big lump of stainless steel in the arm wand?

have googled this to death and found many contradictory statements...there's a bloody surprise eh.

 

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