Adding damping fluid to Audioquest PT arms ????


Hello,

I am wondering about adding damping fluid to my Audioquest arm, mine is the PT6 model.

First I'm wondering what fluid/oil to buy and where for a fair price ?

Second how do you get it in and out of the little brass bowl without making a mess ?

Thirdly, do you have to remove the fluid eveytime you move the table, I'm talking within the house, such as off my rack, and on to a table to work on for instance.

Forth, do you have to readjust tracking force or other settings if you use the damping ? I read you can adjust the amount of damping by how tight you screw the oil welll cover on ? Is there a correct damping amount ? I will be using a Clearaudio Aurum Beta MkII cartridge.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Wayne
waynefia
Wayne, have you tried the PT6 absent of the fluid? I ask because I own a Loth-X modified PT6 which is one of the best bargains and one of the most flexible arms (in terms of cartridges) I've owned. As part of the Loth-X upgardes, they do away with the fluid altogether and add resonance material to the arm, rewire, etc. I am not sure how much each contributes, but the Loth-X arm sounds A LOT better than the stock PT6. MIGHT be worth a try.
Howdy Wayne, I believe I have the Paperwork here for the AQ PT-6, and I'll pass on what it says ASAP.

I'm not aware if there are/were any changes between the AQ Arm I have, and the one you have, but I believe that there was no mention about varying the amount of damping by how much the screw cover was screwed down? I'll have to check on that.

What I noticed on mine (If I remember correctly), that there was some sort of Dimple inside the cover, and that a certain quantity of Oil had to be added for the Oil to contact this dimple to have any damping effect on the arm.

I would assume Audioquest themselves should also have the Damping Oil for these Arms, but I don't have any idea as to price? The Vial that was supplied with my Arm when I bought it, was a very small Vial, probably no more than 12-15 drops of Oil in it. Mark
Wayne, Thinking some more about this, that might be possible, adjusting how far the well cover protrudes into the damping oil bath as a means of varying the amount of damping, but with the cover slightly loose, I would then wonder if vibrations-resonances from this cover being loose could somehow have a detriment on sound, and the tonearm's performace would/could somehow be compromised?

I don't believe I ever read mention of this with the paperwork that accompanied the arm (Which really wasn't much) I believe they only mentioned varying the damping by just how much Oil you would Put into the well. Mark
According to the Elusive Disc's website, the Expressimo Heavyweight for the AQ PT Arms is still available.
I just ordered one for myself! :-) Reckon I'll give it a try, and see if it offers an improvement on my Arm. Mark
Wayne/all This is from from the manual, and specifically pertains to damping:

Medium Mass, Adjustable damping allows higher effective mass and/or use of Cartridges without internal damping (Such as Decca and Grado)

The AQ PT-6/7/8 features optional viscous damping.Damping allows the arm to behave as though it has additional mass at higher frequencies without affecting the moving mass at low frequencies. Too much weight, or resistance would prevent an arm from following the groove as it moves. On the other hand, behaving like a heavier arm at higher frequencies prevents the movement of the stylus tracing the groove from affecting the tonearm. Damping allows the PT-6/7/8 to provide a proper platform for almost every type of cartridge.

Not all Cartridges need damping. You may experiment to determine whether damping will improve your sound. The Large bearing Cover easily unscrews. Place a SMALL amount of the enclosed damping fluid in the chamber, and replace the Bearing Cover. If you fill the little cup. most of the fluid will spill out when the ball under the bearing cover fits into the cup. You can easily clean out the cup that holds the damping fluid if you decide to use less, or no damping.
Hope this helps you, Mark