Graham 2.2 damping fluid amount?

SirSpeedy,
Did you raise of lower lower your VTF as you added fluid? I only have a Shure Stylus force gauge and can't do any fine adjustments. What about antiskating?

Alephman,sheeeeesh!I thought this thread was dead!!

Firstly,set antiskate for the downforce you will use,then forget it!!Vta,and downforce,and fluid level ALL AFFECT oneanother.Work slowly,over numerous listening sessions and you will find the Grail.Good luck!!

sirspeedy,
Thanks for the advice. Got things dialed in real good.(Benz Ruby 3, Pass Aleph Ono)

Ok, Has anyone tried different Damping fluids? I could not get rid of a feeling that the 2.2 sounded too damped for a uni-pivot, I just expected more.

With the blue fluid I could not get rid of the feeling that this arm was not performing to its max, even with Sirspeedy’s damping fluid tweaks. I just felt that it sounded like an SME IV's sound but with more flow to the music. I always felt the 2.2 should have been well beyond the SME IV in terms of openness. I don't know whether the damping fluid I have was too old, too thick or just plain wrong. I asked a friend to come around and bring his SME IV damping fluid with him.

To test whether the SME fluid was thinner than the graham fluid I placed a blob of both fluids next to each other and with a pin in each hand I did stick The afore mentioned pins into each blob at the same time. I then withdrew the pins so as to produce a tail on top of the blobs. The SME damping fluid’s tail withdrew back into the blob much quicker than the Grahams.
So I tried it in the Graham and following Sirspeedy’s fluid regime. I found the SME fluid to be Much more open and cleaner sounding, I could use less fluid and still get a cleaner sound. In-fact the more SME fluid I added the more precise the sound stage became without becoming dull or recessed.

It was not a minor tweak.

Anyone else tried something like this?

Interesting,but the caveat is that the arm (2.2)is best voiced with a "combination" of fluid,in conjunction with downforce AND VTA.All three variables sort of "mix" to get the best performance.Maybe the SME stuff is better,but I'd check if Bob Graham has tried it.I'm willing to bet he has,as well as a good bit of others.Yet I do hope you are on to something.

Best!