I'm not familiar with that arm, but I can answer your first question:
www.turntablebasics.com
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I own one of these arms( PT7). The manual said to just put a small amount in . You can tranport the turntable + not worry about spilling the silicon as long as you dont overfill or turn it completely over .You empty the silicone by using a cloth to wipe it all out .
needledoctor.com probally has the fluid .
By the way the Expressimo Heavy Weight counter weight available at the elusive disc.com makes a big improvement to this arm ( think bass ). But it is $120.00 .
ALL of the above applies to the PT 6 , 7 + 8 models only .
I am not familiar with other models .
Dave |
Nsgarch, thanks for the link. |
Dave, thanks for the info. I bought one of the last Heavy Weights from Elusive Disc. I understand the thinking and that it is the "hot" arm setup, but what a pain to setup balance and tracking force I found. I also changed cartidges to a Clearaudio Aurum Beta MkII. They were done together, so I can't specifically praise either one, but wow what a difference in sound, verse the prior setup. First album I threw on Grover Washington, Winelight, the bass jumped out, and the width of the soundstage increased with sounds much beyond the width of the speakers before. I have to tell you I am not a real good at finding these miracle sound improvements, related to power cords, interconnects, or the latest hot tweeks, that are so easily tossed around. But this is one I could identify in the first few minutes. |
Wayne, have you tried the PT6 absent of the fluid? I ask because I own a Loth-X modified PT6 which is one of the best bargains and one of the most flexible arms (in terms of cartridges) I've owned. As part of the Loth-X upgardes, they do away with the fluid altogether and add resonance material to the arm, rewire, etc. I am not sure how much each contributes, but the Loth-X arm sounds A LOT better than the stock PT6. MIGHT be worth a try. |
Howdy Wayne, I believe I have the Paperwork here for the AQ PT-6, and I'll pass on what it says ASAP.
I'm not aware if there are/were any changes between the AQ Arm I have, and the one you have, but I believe that there was no mention about varying the amount of damping by how much the screw cover was screwed down? I'll have to check on that.
What I noticed on mine (If I remember correctly), that there was some sort of Dimple inside the cover, and that a certain quantity of Oil had to be added for the Oil to contact this dimple to have any damping effect on the arm.
I would assume Audioquest themselves should also have the Damping Oil for these Arms, but I don't have any idea as to price? The Vial that was supplied with my Arm when I bought it, was a very small Vial, probably no more than 12-15 drops of Oil in it. Mark |
Wayne, Thinking some more about this, that might be possible, adjusting how far the well cover protrudes into the damping oil bath as a means of varying the amount of damping, but with the cover slightly loose, I would then wonder if vibrations-resonances from this cover being loose could somehow have a detriment on sound, and the tonearm's performace would/could somehow be compromised?
I don't believe I ever read mention of this with the paperwork that accompanied the arm (Which really wasn't much) I believe they only mentioned varying the damping by just how much Oil you would Put into the well. Mark |
According to the Elusive Disc's website, the Expressimo Heavyweight for the AQ PT Arms is still available.
I just ordered one for myself! :-) Reckon I'll give it a try, and see if it offers an improvement on my Arm. Mark |
Wayne/all This is from from the manual, and specifically pertains to damping:
Medium Mass, Adjustable damping allows higher effective mass and/or use of Cartridges without internal damping (Such as Decca and Grado)
The AQ PT-6/7/8 features optional viscous damping.Damping allows the arm to behave as though it has additional mass at higher frequencies without affecting the moving mass at low frequencies. Too much weight, or resistance would prevent an arm from following the groove as it moves. On the other hand, behaving like a heavier arm at higher frequencies prevents the movement of the stylus tracing the groove from affecting the tonearm. Damping allows the PT-6/7/8 to provide a proper platform for almost every type of cartridge.
Not all Cartridges need damping. You may experiment to determine whether damping will improve your sound. The Large bearing Cover easily unscrews. Place a SMALL amount of the enclosed damping fluid in the chamber, and replace the Bearing Cover. If you fill the little cup. most of the fluid will spill out when the ball under the bearing cover fits into the cup. You can easily clean out the cup that holds the damping fluid if you decide to use less, or no damping.
Hope this helps you, Mark |
Mark, thanks for the info. I have read some of what you have written. Did you keep the damping, or empty the "bowl"
Wayne |
Hi Wayne, To tell the truth, when I got my Table, and arm back in '96, the first thing I did was add the Damping Fluid to the well.
I added just enough through trial and error till I seen the resovoir full enough to see the fluid just contact the little dimple on the well cover, and that was it.
Honestly, I haven't looked in there since, and who knows, it may have dried up? (or turned to glue!) lol
Since I'm using the Benz Glider, it was probably something I didn't need with this particular cartridge, and the arm may perform better without it? Only one way to find out I reckon. None the less, the arm, and tracking abilities with torture test tracks have performed well, with no problems. From what I understand the Glider is a great tracking cartridge, so probably whatever I do with my arm probably don't have any ill effect one way, or the other.
I may decide to empty it soon for the heck of it.
In a few days, I should have my Expressimo Tonearm Weight, so maybe at this time, I'll go over the arm, and sponge the old oil out for good? Mark |
Mark,
Or, maybe check it and add some back in and see the results ?? Let me know. Also let me know how hard you find it to setup the arm with the Heavy Weight. I found it a bit hard to get the right balance as easy, and also the the tracking force. I found it difficult to get small incremental moves to make small changes.
Wayne |
Wayne, I'm getting the impression that the Expressimo weight bears no mechanical resemblence to the original, and that it only slides, and then locks with an Allen Screw?
If so, I can then understand the difficulty of attaining first balance, and then the proper tracking weight.
It should be here before the weekend, and I'll probably tackle it during some free time on the weekend.
I'll just have to keep telling myself "have patience", and one always should be in a happy mood when doing such fiddly procedures as this! :-)
I'll keep you all posted as to the results. Mark |
Mark,
Exactly! I was going crazy with it, and took a few breaks.
Wayne |
Hi Wayne, I had figured it had to use some sort of clamping with screw because of its teardrop shape, and couldn't see how it could rotate on the CW Shaft due to this oblong design.
I'll bet it is a bugger getting the correct VTF. Hopefully my meager Shure VTF Gauge will be up to the task of again acquiring a similar VTF with my Glider, and most importantly hope that I don't in any way damage the Cantilever-Stylus by the repeated fiddling.
Mark |
