Compliance Converter
Cartridge compliance is published three different ways, and a spec sheet often does not say which one it is quoting. A resonance calculation needs the dynamic figure at 10 Hz, so a figure measured at 100 Hz or with a static weight has to be converted first. Enter the number as the maker prints it, say how it was measured, and this gives you the 10 Hz equivalent.
These are the accepted rules of thumb, not measurements: a 100 Hz figure is taken as roughly 1.7 times smaller than the same suspension at 10 Hz, and a static figure roughly twice as large. Real cartridges vary either side of that, so treat a converted number as an estimate and prefer a maker's own 10 Hz figure whenever one exists. If a spec sheet gives a frequency, use it; if it gives nothing, 100 Hz is the safer assumption for a Japanese-market cartridge, and the difference is large enough to matter. Goldring's 1042 is the example worth remembering: 24 cu as published, 12 cu at 10 Hz.
Put the 10 Hz figure to work in the resonance calculator →
Or look your cartridge up in the database, converted already →
Who makes these
Bool Audio is a father and son making hi-fi components in a small UK workshop. We build the Clear Wave unipivot tonearm and the Clear Wave 2.0 tonearm cable, both for the Linn LP12. These calculators began as our own bench arithmetic. They are free to use, there is nothing to install, and they take no view on which cartridge or tonearm you should own.