Tools

Cartridge Resonance Calculator

Every arm and cartridge pair forms a resonant system: the cartridge suspension is the spring, the arm and cartridge are the mass. Enter your cartridge's weight and compliance, and this calculates where that resonance falls with the Clear Wave, or with any arm whose effective mass you know.

Tonearm Clear Wave — 11 g Clear Wave with ceramic spacer — 13 g Another arm

Arm effective mass (g)

Only used with “Another arm”. From the arm's specification sheet.

Cartridge

Cartridge mass (g)

Compliance (cu)

As the spec sheet publishes it — set the standard below to match.

Compliance standard

Mounting hardware (g)

Screws and nuts. Leave blank for the usual 0.5 g.

Resonant frequency

9.1 Hz

481216 Hz

In the 8 to 12 Hz band: above warp and footfall frequencies, below the audible range. This is where you want it. The pairing is well matched.

Figures: Ortofon Quintet Blue, from our database · source: ortofon.com

The working

\(M = 11 + 9 + 0.5 = 20.5\ \text{g}\)

\(f_r = \dfrac{1000}{2\pi\sqrt{20.5 \times 15}} = 9.1\ \text{Hz}\)

Treat the result as a guide rather than a verdict. Published compliance figures are often optimistic, measured differently between makers, and suspensions soften with age. A pairing a little outside the band can still track well; the calculation tells you where to look if it does not.