TONEARM DAMPING : DAMPED OR NOT ? ? USELESS ? ? WELCOMED ? ?

Dear @snackeyp  : "  I know that tonearm resonation is partially caused by the vibrations from the record groove.... but believe that a lot of these vibrations come through the plinth on tables that are not well isolated from room vibrations. "

Really?, the main " vibrations " comes from the stylus tip grooves modulations tracking and in the other side no single plynth can do nothing about speaker bass range sound " vibrations " through the air.

The tonearm arm wand tape is to damps the tonearm and the silicon paddle mainly is to damps cartridge ridding and that you " hate " it only  means that you don't like it but not that's wrong with that kind of damping because damping is a must at both positions.
What you or I like has no importance at all but what the cartridge needs.

R.

Dear @atmasphere  : In reality the resonance frequency between cartridge/tonearm is not affected because the tonearm EM change is really low because the kind of damping that we are talking about contributes all over the arm wand and not at the headshell only that's where matters more.

You can measure/calculate, here an example: EM 12grs. and with a 12cu caRTRIDGE with 8gr.-12gr. weigth you are inside 110hz and if the EM change to 15grs then it can change to  at 12grs. 9hz but at 8grs. stays 10hz.

R.

I found that adding the Sumiko Analog Survival kit meant that I had to use cartridges with a bit lower compliance. IOW while solving one problem another is created, like many things in life. A better solution is to start with a properly damped arm tube.

@atmasphere  : the dronepuck advise or even that 3m electrical tape or any other ligth tape makes almost nothing for the tonearm EM goes higher enough to be a problem.

Yes, the ideal arm wand should be very well damped but that is the ideal/perfect arm wand that does not exist and that's why we have to take some actions about.

R.

Dear friends: As I said before the silicon paddle mainly is to damps the cartridge ridding more than the tonearm it self. The " tape " is for the tonearm and inderectly benefits the cartridge transducer and its ridding through the groove modulations.

Townshend understand it very well: main subject is to helps the stylus tip ridding, this is the critical issue.

For all the information in what different gentlemans posted here we can see that the stylus tip not always is in perfect touch with the LP surface but several times is jumping and not touching the LP surface, something similar of what happens to a snow skier that due to acceleration and the snow imperfections is not always in  firm touch with the ski bottomplate..

Silicon paddle objective is try that the stylus tip stays " all " the time in touch with the LP surface along better control over the off-center LP characteristic as the macro and micro waves imperfections that disturbs a lot and creates vibrations that the transducer takes as if were groove modulations and reproduce it incrementing the distortion levels, any kind of developed distortions.
From that point of view, like it or not, the silicon paddle is a must to have, we need to help the cartridge ridding. As other gentleman posted here it improves the tracking cartridge habilities and this is a fact that I experienced several times ones and again and again.

Improving cartridge self tracking habilities means lower distortions, more true and complete signal information and improved quality level performance of what we are listening.

I have to say that's really dificult to verdamp not only the cartridge ridding but any other ling in the room/system but the room that's very easy to overdamps.
I'm not saying that we can't overdamp the cartridge/tonearm because we could when our kind of damping impedes the cartridge/tonearm " free " ridding.
Damping must be enough to the cartridge can has more control following the groove modulations, exactly what an skier is looking for during its fall in the mountain or through obstacles: control.

So one thing is to daps the tonearm and other the cartridge and we need both kind of damping down there it does not matters the way we try to do it: we need it, some way or the other.

What do you think? 

R.