Damping fluid/grease for Mayware Unipivot?

HI Andy, as Styefan points out there is the arm/cartrdige resonance point which varies according to the cartrdige used. Generally speaking, the lower the compliance of a given cartrdige the more damping you will need. By dynamics in record players i don't menaa noise at all, but out and out dynamics, slam, speed. You'll find as I did, if you change record players to something with more energy, that a given amount of fluid on a "regular" turntable is suddenly not enough on a slamming turntable. The increased dynamics changes/excites the resonances already in the arm/cartridge. Since the only way to assess the situation is by ear given all the variables, then manufacturer recommended fluids are moot. Most of them anyway were silicone fluid identical to the recommended silicone fluid sold for $10 at turntablebasics. For an example: the Mayware/Ortofon on a modded AR-XA worked very well with some motor oil, about one-third full. This same tonearm/cartridge on the Lenco required the entire cup be filled with the much thicker silicone fluid, as the Lenco's speed and bass are far more taxing (like a high-performance car). If you buy the silicone fluid then try one drop at a time (the decca International for instance takes only a very small drop of fluid, and it makes a HUGE difference nevertheless) until you hit a sweet spot, it's the only way, and the thicker silicone fluid gives you more range. Good luck.

I am still confused about dynamics. Dynamics is a good thing but the consequence of good dynamics is more structure borne sound in the tonearm. In order to dissipate this one needs to add more viscous damping. Is this correct?

I realize I am wandering a bit from the original topic but a couple of questions:

With the Lenco, by adding a lot more damping does this overdamp the arm/cartridge resonance and have a detrimental effect on both the bass response and the handling of warped or non-concentric records?

What is mechanically different about a turntable with good dynamics and one without? That is, what has changed for the better in the chain: housing - (suspension) - platter - record - cartridge - tonearm - (suspension) - housing

I think you should read this as I mentioned it's called "Audible effects of Mechanical resonances in turntables" by Poal Ladegaard it will give you a better understanding of well....turntable resonances.Here is the link http://www.vinylengine.com/manuals.shtml Everything in audio is a sorry compromise as someone once said.

Hi Adrian, boy this is really drifting off-topic. Of course adding more damping when mounted on a Lenco does not compromise the sound quality, no more than adding more damping because another cartridge - such as the super slamming Decca cartrdiges - needs more damping. It is done by ear to achieve a good result, trust your ears. If you add too much damping, this means so much it negatively affects the sound/performance. When you get it right, then it doesn't negatively affect the sound but only focuses it up to the optimal point. The Lenco is no different than any other 'table out there: there are grades and there are grades. Of course, different 'tables will have dynamics in different degrees, just as some will have more bass and others will have better highs. This is true also of cartridges: a more dynamic cartrdige will require more damping than a less-dynamic one. Read the reviews: why is a VPI TNT better than a VPI HW19 MKIV? For one thing dynamics. Why is a Clearaudio Master Reference better than most other belt-drives? Again among other things dynamics. This applies to amplifiers (some are more dynamic than opthers), cartridges (some are more dynamic than others), CD players (some are more dynamic than others)...why should record players be any different? Dynamics are affected by various things in different degrees - materials, suspension, design - but most of all by real-world speed stability, which in belt-drive turntables is achieved by mass/momentum and torque (this explains why more expensive turntables have HUGE platters, and often extra motors or flywheels attached). The Lenco, being an idler-wheel drive, has tremendous torque, and also great mass/momentum due to its flywheel-platter, and so tremendous dynamic swings, same as the Garrard 301s and 401, and other idler-wheel drives like the Rek-o-Kuts. This is why idler-wheel drives are sought-after by some, this is their defining characteristic. They have such tremendous dynamics because they do not suffer from stylus drag, that phenomenon whereby dramatic groove modulations in a record actually slow down the platter as they cause a braking action as the cartridge hangs on: idler-wheel drives steamroller over this, being too powerful to be thus affected. The result is audibly greater dynamics, slam and controlled bottomless powerful bass. Put a given unipivot tonearm/cartridge on an idler-wheel drive, and you'll find that the damping which resulted in optimal performance for that same tonearm/catrdige combo on a belt-drive is no longer sufficient, the cartridge is now out of control, and control of arm-cartridge resonances and stability is the whole reason for damping in the first place. Simple. Sticking to belt-drives: Say one turntable has decent bass, fast and nimble, but slightly light, like an AR-XA. You mount your Mayware on that and you will find that to preserve the bass and to tighten it a bit you need to apply three drops of silicone fluid. Now mount that same arm-cartridge combo on a turntable with much more powerful bass, like a Clearaudio Master Reference. Suddenly the bass is much deeper, conditions have changed. What was enough damping is suddenly not enough, as the bass below 40 Hz, which could not be heard on the AR, is now audible and woolly. Now you need to add more damping fluid until the bass is once again well-defined. Does this mean the Clearaudio is caca? Of course not! Damping is to tame excited energies. The more dynamic a turntable is (and the deeper the bass) the more those resonances and energies will be excited. Damping is applied by ear: the manufacturers cannot anticipate every single cartridge that will be mounted on their tonearms, nor can they anticipate every single turntable their arms will be mounted on, thus they cannot provide a "standard" amount of damping fluid, even if there were only one type. I would disagree with Stefan1 on one thing: while it's true that science cannot provide clear instructions on how much damping fluid to use, this is no bad thing and is no sorry compromise, as your ears will be receiving the sound-waves/music, and your ears are the best judge of when you've applied enough fluid. We'd all be better off if we trusted our ears instead of seeking hard and fast rules, and would find ourselves enjoing reproduced music much much more. So mount your tonearm, apply damping fluid in stages and listen, you'll know you went too far when the dynamics disappear and the bass and dynamics (liveliness) become too attenuated, at which point you remove some and find that sweet optimal spot for your particular turntable.

... that's what my "Sonus" Formula IV specifies, IIRC - I don't have the manual handy; I used a little of the stuff for RC cars (got it at my local toy shop for, like, $5) - it's about the same viscosity as warm molasses, so thin oils like E/V olive oil would probably provide less damping (unless my physics are backwards, which is entirely posible)