Resonance Lab

Resonance Lab is an app for evaluating tonearm and phono-cartridge compatibility. It calculates the expected resonance frequency of a proposed combination and translates the result into clear, practical guidance.

You can create complete turntable setups, compare alternative components, save favourite combinations and explore a growing catalogue of cartridges and tonearms.

A tonearm and cartridge behave together as a mechanical system. The cartridge suspension acts like a spring, while the effective mass of the tonearm and cartridge provides the moving mass.

If their resonance frequency is poorly positioned, record warps, vibration or audible low-frequency information may interfere with tracking and playback. Resonance Lab helps identify potentially unsuitable combinations before you install them.

A resonance frequency in the region of approximately 8–12 Hz is commonly considered a useful target.

This places the resonance above many turntable and record-warp disturbances while keeping it below most recorded musical information. The result should still be treated as guidance rather than an absolute guarantee of performance.

Resonance Lab combines the tonearm’s effective mass with the cartridge weight, mounting hardware mass and cartridge compliance. These values are used to estimate the natural resonance frequency of the complete tonearm and cartridge system.

The accuracy of the estimate depends on the accuracy and comparability of the specifications supplied by the manufacturers.

You normally need the tonearm’s effective mass, the cartridge weight, the approximate mass of the mounting screws and the cartridge’s dynamic compliance.

Resonance Lab includes a component catalogue so that many of these specifications can be selected directly. You can also create a custom entry when your particular component is not yet included.

Compliance describes how easily the cartridge suspension moves. A higher-compliance cartridge has a softer suspension, while a lower-compliance cartridge has a stiffer suspension.

Higher-compliance cartridges are generally associated with lower-mass tonearms, while lower-compliance cartridges are often more suitable for medium- or higher-mass arms. The final compatibility depends on the complete combination rather than a single specification.

Some manufacturers specify dynamic compliance at 100 Hz rather than at the lower frequency normally used for tonearm-resonance calculations. These values should not automatically be treated as equivalent.

Resonance Lab can provide an informed estimate where conversion is necessary, but the result remains approximate because cartridge suspensions do not all behave identically.

Yes. Select your tonearm and explore how different cartridge weights and compliance values affect the predicted resonance frequency.

You can also begin with a cartridge and compare compatible tonearms. This makes Resonance Lab useful when researching an upgrade, rebuilding a turntable or checking a combination suggested by a dealer or manufacturer.

Yes. Resonance Lab allows you to create and revisit different setups, save favourite component combinations and experiment without changing your existing system.

This is useful for collectors, dealers and listeners who own several cartridges, headshells, tonearms or turntables.

No. The calculation is a technically informed prediction based on published or entered specifications. Manufacturing tolerances, suspension age, damping, mounting hardware and measurement methods may affect the behaviour of the real system.

Resonance Lab provides a strong starting point for component matching, but it does not replace careful installation, listening or measurement with an appropriate test record.