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Shure Dynamic Stabilizer on/off experimentation

Hi: I was wondering whether anybody had done the work to properly compare the sound of a Shure Cartridge with the Dynamic Stabilizer a - used as designed by Shure, b - still on the cartridge but locked in the up position, c - removed from the cartridge. To be valid the comparison would have to re-optimize the tracking force and antiskating each time. Also if you can report what tonearm you used that would be helpful; if you have tracking or resonance problems that would invalidate the experiment. For a nice tonearm/cartridge matching graph please see http://www.analogue-classics.com/html/sme_3009___3012.html.

I'm using an SME 3009 Series III tonearm with a SOTA turntable with vacuum holddown. Since the tonearm has damping and the turntable should minimize warp, the stabilizer may do more harm than good in this setup. Before I spend a Saturday doing the experiments I thought I would survey the Audiogon community.

I'd be interested in hearing your experiences please. Thanks!
hifigeezer
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
The brush works as a damper, which is handy in an undamped tonearm to navigate warped records and diminish the amplitude of the tonearm/cartridge resonant frequency. In most cases, it improves trackability and tames resonances, but if you have a tonearm sufficiently damped to keep the stylus in the groove on hideous warps, you don't need to use the damper brush.

Still, I consider the damping brush to be a really effective low-cost method to damp, considering that the KAB damper trough is $150 and damped tonearms are significantly more.
travis's avatar
travis
239 posts
 
I found, on an '80s AR TT with Sumiko arm, that the brush tended to act like another stylus and tried to make it's own music. I took it off, lowered the tracking force and I thought it was an improvement. This was on a V15/Type V.
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