Ideas why cartridge/tonearm mating may defy the predictions:
(1) The compliance of the actual cartridge sample could vary significantly from what the manufacturer has published, especially if the cartridge has aged.
(2) Many systems cannot reproduce much bass below 30-40Hz and so a resonant peak above 12 Hz is not much of a problem and/or the turntable is well isolated and in a very stable environment, so resonance below 8 Hz is also not a problem.
(3) Little tricks used in certain tonearms to dampen resonance and/or to reduce effective mass, such as moving the counter-wt very close to the pivot point.
(4) Inaccurate data on tonearm effective mass.
(5) When one spends a lot of money for a tonearm and cartridge, one is predisposed to like the result.
(1) The compliance of the actual cartridge sample could vary significantly from what the manufacturer has published, especially if the cartridge has aged.
(2) Many systems cannot reproduce much bass below 30-40Hz and so a resonant peak above 12 Hz is not much of a problem and/or the turntable is well isolated and in a very stable environment, so resonance below 8 Hz is also not a problem.
(3) Little tricks used in certain tonearms to dampen resonance and/or to reduce effective mass, such as moving the counter-wt very close to the pivot point.
(4) Inaccurate data on tonearm effective mass.
(5) When one spends a lot of money for a tonearm and cartridge, one is predisposed to like the result.