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

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.

@rauliruegas 3M and a few others make a butyl rubber tape that sticks to itself when you stretch it. I've not compared it to the Sumiko Analog Survival kit but it does work and does not leave a sticky mess when removed.


The Triplanar has an internal damping mechanism in its arm tube and so works well lacking any external tape for damping. In this regard it works better then the SME5 with damping while at the same time having lower mass.


BTW I think you mean 'riding' when you are using 'ridding'. Riding is used like 'riding your bicycle', 'ridding' is used like 'getting rid of garbage'.

Yes, that's what I'm trying to say. Sorry.

R.

@rauliruegas,

I have both the VPI 10.5i/AL-tube (EL = 266mm) and the 12-3D /printed-tube (EL-313mm). By just a simple balance analysis, the 12-3D tonearm fwd of the pivot is 3X the weight (not effective mass) of the 10.5i tonearm fwd of its pivot. The 12-3D is over-damped and it plays fine and is generally well regarded, but the counterweight I have is a total of about 215-gms. So, at least by observation - I have to agree that you cannot over-damp the tonearm. I would venture to guess that so long as you can balance the tonearm, and the requisite bearing design will not impede motion, that over-damping similar to the 12-3D printed arm pretty much eliminates any sharply defined resonant frequency.

But, the fO.q tape is a piezo-electric damping tape that converts vibration into electricity - and the vendor states not to use on sensitive electrical components. I would think the very minute electrical signal carried by the tonearm wires would make use of the fO.q tape inappropriate for a tonearm.  Also, from military application experience,  there is a science to damping a tube with externally applied damping material. 

Otherwise, for tracking a lot has to be associated with the tonearm length/bearing design - single-pivot, gimble, knife edge, magnetic and all variations thereof. Add to this the cartridge stylus-shape, and cantilever/suspension ’system’ and the benefit of silicone damping has to be variable. There are just too many variables.

Neil

@rauliruegas  So, what is your assessment of resin infused wooden arm tubes such a Reed and Schroder use?