Adding weight on Cartridge

[Saket]

Hello Friends,

I added a 3 gm weight on my cartridge...not because it needed it but for cosmetic purposes. Actually, the headshell had scratches at the place of mounting screws & that weight was a perfect disguise for it. I then adjusted my counterweight on the tonearm as I would do without any weight and presently tracking at 1.75 gms.
Now asking you guys, would that technically & sonically affect my set up in anyway, more so negatively?

Thanks in advance,
Saket

 

[Shivam]

A lot depends on the arm in question and the material used for the added weight.

From no change to increased resonance leading to muddled sound and blurred sound-stage is my best guess.

 

[Saket]

Sorry for the missing details, the tone arm is stock Technics 'S' shaped arm mounted on my SL-Q33 and the added weight is the 3 gm weight supplied by Shure with its M44-7 cart. (in the same box).

 

[jls001]

If my understanding is right, basically you are adding a spacer between the cartridge and the headshell, and it is tightly clamped between the cartridge and headshell. This should cause no problem.

 

[vktarun]

So, basically the question is, If counterweight is exceeded beyond what is mentioned in the mannual, how it affects the sound quality ? If I understand correct.

Regards,

 

[jls001]

So, basically the question is, If counterweight is exceeded beyond what is mentioned in the mannual, how it affects the sound quality ? If I understand correct.

Regards,

If the counterweight's range is exceeded, the balance of weight will be in favour of the headshell end. So it will track, but at higher than the recommended tracking weight. Two issues can arise - one, the sound may change since it is tracking heavier than recommended force for that cartridge, and second, the suspension and damping of the moving parts of the cantilever could have a shorter life since it is being stressed beyond its design parameters on a continuous basis.

 

[Saket]

Hello All,

Thanks for all the replies & my apologies for causing some confusion. Actually, what I have is a somewhat scratched headshell at the area where the cartridge mounting screws are tightened (on the headshell). I got this rectangular black metal plate of 3gms with the new cart. that I bought. I fixed this metal plate on the headshell (not between the cart & headshell but over the headshell) so as to hide those scratches. So the cart is normally mounted without any spacers, but this weight is tightened on the top of headshell (with the help of same screws used to mount the cart.). So now I have an extra weight of 3gms on the headshell end.
I have now adjusted the counterweight to compensate this extra 3gms by further loosening it. Then I have adjusted the effective tracking force to 1.75 gms. I wanted to ask if it would make any difference? although my tracking force is effectively 1.75 gms only, but would that weight plate over the headshell affect anything sonically by resonance or anything else.
Sorry for the long post, but I am at work & I have no pictures of the set-up right now.

Thanks.

 

[jls001]

So now I have an extra weight of 3gms on the headshell end.
I have now adjusted the counterweight to compensate this extra 3gms by further loosening it. Then I have adjusted the effective tracking force to 1.75 gms. I wanted to ask if it would make any difference? although my tracking force is effectively 1.75 gms only, but would that weight plate over the headshell affect anything sonically by resonance or anything else.
Sorry for the long post, but I am at work & I have no pictures of the set-up right now.

Thanks.

I think your balancing process is perfect.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

If the metal used is iron, it could interfere with the magnets in the cartridge. It would be better to use copper in case you want to use it. If it is only to cover the scratch, you can use same paint to cover it. Just a suggestion
kuruvilajacob

 

[Hiten]

Cartridge tonearm compatabilty greatly affects sound quality. There is a reason why a proper weight is recommended. We need to extract as much modulated information as we could with out affecting the record. Try imagine what would happen if tracking force is increased to the extreme, Stylus will skip, will damage record, will override micro modulations. Think of light weight bicycle running on pot filled roads, while a cycle will follow every ditch and bumps a truck will not.
Regards