Rockmeister
pfm Member
My SME M2 9 is quite light at 9.5g mass. It makes it edgy for some cartridges, esp those that are both light and low compliance (I'm thinking of a Lyra Delos which is not a perfect match as is). Ideally I'd like to add 7-10 grammes mass to the arm.
Reading around, the wisdom seems to swing from 'bung on a heavy headshell', to counterweight additions.
I think I can see that anything that causes the counterweight to be placed further back (like a heavy headshell would do) is not an ideal solution, so the added mass needs to be near the bearings...as near as possible. So? Behind the bearing assembly, (but is this in the right place, behind the balance point, to do any good)? Or maybe just in front of the bearing wrapped around the arm tube itself?
I have in mind cutting to size and weight some simple lead sheet (plumbers roofing repair type stuff) which has the obvious advantage of weight with little bulk, and the ability to stay in a shape (and hopefully, in place) once formed...I'll simply bend it around the arm tube.
All thoughts welcome. The present cartridge is also 'just' in the green OK resonance zone, so I'll try the final theory out on it and report back. Currently at 11Hz resonance, I can move it into the magic 'perfect 9Hz' zone by adding 8g.
Reading around, the wisdom seems to swing from 'bung on a heavy headshell', to counterweight additions.
I think I can see that anything that causes the counterweight to be placed further back (like a heavy headshell would do) is not an ideal solution, so the added mass needs to be near the bearings...as near as possible. So? Behind the bearing assembly, (but is this in the right place, behind the balance point, to do any good)? Or maybe just in front of the bearing wrapped around the arm tube itself?
I have in mind cutting to size and weight some simple lead sheet (plumbers roofing repair type stuff) which has the obvious advantage of weight with little bulk, and the ability to stay in a shape (and hopefully, in place) once formed...I'll simply bend it around the arm tube.
All thoughts welcome. The present cartridge is also 'just' in the green OK resonance zone, so I'll try the final theory out on it and report back. Currently at 11Hz resonance, I can move it into the magic 'perfect 9Hz' zone by adding 8g.