New Maplenoll Ariadne owner needing advice

I have added two recent pics on my system pics showing the trial oil dampening system. The oil trough is the stock trough that I mounted directly under the air bearing spindle. I attached a pin to the arm clamp and it protrudes down into the oil trough. I am using a fixed level at this time in lieu of an adjustable level in the oil trough. The oil is a heavy weigh lubricating oil with a high viscosity. I have experimented with various levels and viscosities to optimize the dampening for most circumstances. The final touch will be an adjustable level to compliment the tapered pin thus creating the ability to adjust dampening on the fly.
The results are subtle. I did find the stock paddle was too much dampening and tended to kill out the highs (particularly the delicate highs like crystal bells etc.) The dampening tends to help with running a little lower vtf. Following the thread on the universe cartridge, i currently have the cartridge vtf set at 1.68 grams and it is sounding great. VTA is near level with the tail just slightly up on the cartridge. Thanks again for the inspiration from various contributors to this forum.

Olimanmojo : Impressive and innovating ; you win the "brass ring" . Great work

charlie
thanks for the kind words. its guys like you who help the novices like me get the encouragement to try new things.

Oilman, You have developed perhaps one of the most remarkable and cost-effective turnarms that duplicates what has not been obtainable for we lessor audiophiles. Thank You for opening the door...

Readers: I am in the process of reviewing a new, inovative product " The Friction Damping Tonearm" a patient pending TT whose parts appear to cost next to nothing with a potential to replace tonearms as we know them. Nothing is certian , no opinions other than what I expressed. More to come much later.