Arm Dampening Fluid

[rollo]

    So the TT is set up perfectly. Got the VTA, tracking force and azimuth down [ thanks Pete ]. Broke the car in for 100 hours.
   OK time to really listen. To my surprise a flat dynamicless presentation. Not happy. Checked the VTA fine, tracking weight spot on WTF ?
   Well live and learnski. The dampening of the arm a la silicon fluid was just too much. With the aide of a Q-Tip I removed the fluid until the arm base barely touched the fluid. Almost scraping.
   Dropped the needle on the LP and bingo dynamics up the arse.
   So guys if anyone is using an arm that sits in dampening fluid experiment with the amount used. It really makes a huge difference.





charles
   

[BobM]

From what I've read and experimented with, if you have a gimbled arm you should not need any dampening fluid at all in most cases. For a unipivot you may need some, but try and keep it to a minimum or the life and dynamics of the music will suffer.

[Putz]

The type of Cart you use may also impact how much if any fluid you add. I've been told/read that the combination of VPI Unipivot and my Grado Reference Sonata should be dampened. Best to ask cart/table manufacturer that question if possible or look for threads like this one on the various forums for concensus.

Obviously your ears are the final judge.