If you've discovered the joys of analogue vinyl, chances are you're exploring how to get the best sound from your setup. Maybe you've swapped your stylus, upgraded your turntable mat, or even eyed a new cartridge. But there’s one invisible factor that affects every record you play — even if you’ve never heard of it: resonance.
More specifically, we're talking about the resonant frequency of your tonearm and cartridge. It’s a bit of science, a bit of engineering, and it can make the difference between your system sounding “muddy” or magical.
Let’s break it down.
What Is Resonance?
Imagine a child on a swing. If you push at just the right rhythm, the swing goes higher and higher. That rhythm is the swing’s natural frequency — and if you hit it, things can get bouncy fast.
Your turntable's tonearm and cartridge act just like that swing. Together, they form a mechanical system that always has a natural frequency at which it vibrates. This is called the resonant frequency.
That’s not inherently bad — it’s just physics. But if that vibration gets triggered during playback (by a warp, a footstep, or a deep bass note), it can cause real problems: distortion, muddiness, rumble, or even the stylus jumping out of the groove.
So, to get great sound, we aim to place that resonance in a “safe zone” — where it won’t interfere with the music.
Two Things That Control Resonance
There are only two things that set the resonant frequency:
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The tonearm’s effective mass – how heavy the tonearm “feels” when it moves
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The cartridge’s compliance – how stiff or soft the cartridge suspension is
The combination of these two factors determines where the resonance will land.
Think of it like this:
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A heavy tonearm moves more slowly — like a truck with bad shocks.
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A light tonearm moves quickly — like a skateboard.
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A stiff cartridge resists bouncing.
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A soft cartridge (high compliance) bounces more easily.
Match them well, and you get a smooth ride. Mismatch them, and you get the vinyl equivalent of bad suspension.
The Ideal Resonance Range: 8 to 12 Hz
Most vinyl enthusiasts agree that the sweet spot for resonance is between 8 and 12 Hz. That’s just below the range of musical bass notes, but above the slow-frequency thumps of warps and footfalls.
Here’s why that matters:
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Below 8 Hz → your tonearm might start to wobble on warped records or vibrate from footsteps, causing rumble or woofer pumping
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Above 12 Hz → you may hear more surface noise and risk losing low-end fullness
How Do You Find Your Resonance?
If you know your tonearm’s effective mass (usually listed in grams) and your cartridge’s compliance (usually in cu, or compliance units), you can use this formula:
Resonant Frequency ≈ 159 / √(Mass × Compliance)
But you don’t need to calculate it by hand, use the calculator below. Just plug in your values and see where your combo lands.