What would I get out of damping fluid?

Turntablebasics.com is one source for Styringes of Tonearm Damping Fluids, of a few different viscosities.

Tough to say what benefits you might reap? The AQ Arm is not a bad Arm, I have two, and at first thought I was going to need Danmping Fluids to control a new ZYX Airy 3X. But with some break in time, and further fine adjustments to the Airy 3, it seems to be behaving quite nicely lately.

Are they worth a try? Sure, but you may find the differences very subtle, and might actually be more of a detriment, than an improvement. Mark

Actually, I found the difference - with or without damping fluid - quite profound. I have a VPI 10.5i with a Benz Ebony LP, and that combination "likes" a bit of damping. The results are more air, depth..all the good stuff. If I use too much, all of the good stuff closes in.

Damping settles down what I call "groove chatter." On percussion with sharp initial transients followed by complex overtones (bells, finger cymbals, triangles, tambourine, etc.) you get a more realistic sound without over-ring and distortion. It also lowers the arm/cartridge resonance frequency, whatever it might be. It makes a bad match better, and a good match closer to ideal. With the proper amount of fluid, you get a better sense of the formation of notes, their bloom, and then their fade.

But as Stringreen says, if you use too much, it sucks all the excitement and much of the dynamics out of the playback. A little dab'll do ya. But a little dab does a lot more for the music than none.

Damping fluid is tonearm/cartridge specific. I'm sure Stringreen described accurately how it effects his VPI/Benz. I'm sure Johnnyb53 described accurately what he hears on whatever rigs he's tried it on.

That doesn't make their findings universal. Most any TriPlanar owner will tell you that damping fluid will kill the sound of any really good cartridge. As Stringreen said, if you use too much all the good stuff closes in, except in the case of the TriPlanar ANY amount of fluid is too much. Damping fluid doesn't make a good match better on this arm, it kills it. In fact many of us have removed the fluid trough altogether, with positive sonic results.

The only way to know is to try. The best guidance on this thread came from Markd51, who has the same tonearm as the OP. Results on any other arm/cart (including mine) have little meaning.

Ok. Sounds like its time to experiment a little. Thanks for all of the responses. I'll post when I've tried it.

The Damping is worth trying. One good thing is, if you don't like the results, they are easily reversible, and you're only out the cost of the Damping Fluids.

Probably the best tweaks for the AQ PT Arms, will be a better quality Tonearm Cable, a high quality Arc Protractor like the Mintlp from Yip in Hong Kong, and another upgrade, which is no longer available, and some have liked, is a Counterweight Upgrade, like the Expressimo Heavyweight. Downside is with the Heavyweight if you could find one, is they are a PITA adjusting, with loosening an Allen Set Screw, then trying to make minor VTF Adjustments.

A buddy here, Wayne Fiala noted this, and sold his Heavyweight, and dam stupid of me not to buy it from him when I had the chance, as now I have two AQ Arms, the PT-8, and PT-9. Mark