Tubes, to damp or not to damp?


I’ve not had much luck with dampening devices when it comes to tubes. For myself, it seems to strangle the life out of the music. Tubes just seem to have more life without them. Maybe I’m using the wrong ones? I purchased a few from Audio Research the black rubber type. Any thoughts on this subject would be interesting to hear.
hiendmmoe
Tried Herbies. Strangles the life sounds about right to me. A much better approach would be to try fO.q tape. Not directly on the tube, they probably get too hot. But on the cover near the tube. Or on the caps inside. Have not tried it in those locations but where it has been tried- tone arm, crossovers, speakers- it works wonders. 

Unlike most vibration control that relies on mass or mechanical damping, fO.q tape uses the piezoelectric effect to convert vibration energy into heat. Very high quality tape with an extremely high quality adhesive it sticks easily and yet can be removed just as easily and without leaving any residue. Impressive stuff. Not cheap, but worth the money for what it does.
Don't spend a fortune on audiophile o ring dampers, get these a couple of dollars.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Red+silicon+o+rings&_sacat=0
But not too tight as over time they will dent the glass with the heat.

Cheers George
Hi,
silicon or rubber is a no for two reasons, the crack over time due to heat and loose their grip and overdamp but are cheap. I found herbies to be a much better solution, they come in different configurations they are nice with the less signature but all of them make tubes sound more or less linear if you like that. If you want to go extreme, damping at certain points the pcb will bring the best results.
silicon or rubber is a no for two reasons, the crack over time due to heat and loose their grip and overdamp but are cheap.
Sorry you’ve got that wrong the red silicon are very high temperature industrial silicon rubber, made for extreme temps and don’t stretch or crack over time. The black ones are not high temp and may sag.

Cheers George