Tube dampeners on ARC gear ... FREE TWEAK

mapman
13,366 posts
06-03-2016 12:04pm
"Lots of information out there from many credible sources about tube microphonics.

No voodoo there.

Which dampers work best when needed? The standard ones that came on the tubes in my Arc pre-amp seem pretty simple and effective. Others might be better or at least produce different results for sure. YMMV most likely."

Sorry to be the beare of bad news, but they all suck. Every single one of them, including the pricey Swiss Ensemble tube socks, all those cute little elastomer rings, the ebony hats the, crystals, what have you, all except one. And all those dampers seem like such a good idea, too. See if you can guess which one doesn’t suck.

Yeah, you're right, there's lots of credible info out there.  The trick is to separate the credible from the uh incredible. 

An ordinary man has no means of deliverance.

geoffkait ...

If the stock tube rings from ARC "suck," why is there such an improvement with them in the proper placement, and why the degradation of the sound when they are totally removed from the tubes?  

I don't like to guess. What tube dampeners are you referring to?

Mapman ...

Have you tried moving the tube rings to the position suggested in the opening post in this thread? If so ... what were the results??

OP

OP

I put mine on both close to the top but not touching.  I have heard microphonic effects in the sound from time to time in the past with no dampers on and this seems to solve the problem though I am sure there are other ways as well. 

I think GK mentioned liking the Herbies dampers if I recall correctly.   Don't recall why.

^^^ Mapman ...

Those Herbies dampeners look interesting.  

Warren Gehl at ARC suggested that the two rings be pressed together and placed about 1/8th inch from the top of the tubes. No gap between the rings. It made a big overall improvement in my ARC electronics ... not subtle at all. 

Oregonpapa wrote,

"geoffkait ...

If the stock tube rings from ARC "suck," why is there such an improvement with them in the proper placement, and why the degradation of the sound when they are totally removed from the tubes?"

I was was referring to generic elastomer rings, never tried the ARC tube rings. I guess they're what you call an exception. There's an exception to every rule.  ;-)