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how is your experience in using the damping fluid in the VPI arm's? I have been using my VPI JMW 10 arm without the fluid for the last couple of weeks while I awaited the fluid to arrive, and I must say that the arm sounds great without it. But is it advisable to use the fluid, or leave it out? thanks
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Add only 1 drop at a time and listen after each addition. When the sound deteriorates, use a Q-tip and remove that last drop.
I know this thread is a couple years old but after reading it I decided to try something. I actually used DuPont Super lube which I found very thick for the task. I slowly fill the reservoir until i notice a small amount of build on the arms "female cup" then cleaned off the cup so that it was minimal drag (damping). At that point I listened to a snare drum slap and stand up bass. Didn't notice much on the bass or the slap of the stick on the top skin, However any sibilance I had was now replaced with the springs hitting the bottom skin of the drum. In short it was more accurate and removed some artifacts I didn't notice I had until there were removed. I Tried it a couple times by extracting the lube by syringe then refilling it and felt confident it was an improvement. BTW I am using a Lyra Helikon on a 12.5 arm. Hope this helps others to try new things.
I tried this as well, but with different results. The sound was very slow and missing a lot of detail. It undoubtedly toned down the high end, but at the expense of detail that I did not willing to let go of. I ended up taking the fluid out...
User choice for sure. Put enough silicone fluid in the well to make contact with the arm cup. You can see if the cup has made contact with the fluid when you remove the arm are notice a spider web like string of silicone fluid being transmitted from the bearing well to the arm. The thickness of the spider web like string will increase with the quantity of fluid in the cup. Add a small amount of fluid to start, and add more until you notice a dulling of the dynamics.
thanks, Not!
Depends mostly on the cartridge. Grados and Deccas need it, many others don't.
thanks, Dave, how about Denon's?
Yes, Denons could definitely benefit, but experiment with the quantity. You don't need to wait for the VPI fluid, by the way. In the interim you can use anything from STP to Johnson's Baby Oil. Just wipe it out with Q-tips when you get the real thing.
Thanks, Dave, BTW, what kind of effects should I notice by using the fluid?
It takes edge off of brightness, adds smoothness to sound until you add too much and it starts to get dark and congested sounding. I found a few drops helped for my Denon 103 cartridge. With the Dynavector 20XL and the Soundsmith-VPI Zephyr, I use an even smaller amount.
This is all harmless, reversible and inexpensive trial and error, so just have fun experimenting with it and trust your own ears.
Ken
Please remember, that if the female bearing cup does not touch the silicone fluid, you have no damping. Typically, it will take more than a couple of drops of silicone fluid to reach a useful level.
I agree, few and couple are loose terms to describe how many - not quite several either. The idea is, it doesn' take much at all - the bowl itself is very small.
To be more precise, I find it takes about 6 drops of the VPI silicon to fill the bowl up enough to actually make contact with the female cup for any actual dampening to take effect. As NotYetThere mentioned previously, you should see a very thin spider web-like strand of silicon when you lift the tonearm from the base.
From there, one should listen to a variety of music and introduce a drop at a time before it begins to sound dark, rolled off, congested, murky etc. To remove silicon, either use a Q-tip or suck it out with the pointy nose of the VPI silicon bottle.
Ken
Ok, got it, so the cup has to fill up, more than a drop or two. Thank you.
The fluid will go up the pin? This would be great for me as I have felt that my current set-up is a little on the bright side...
The fluid does not migrate up the bearing pin. The bottom edge of the upper female cup rests in the silicone fluid.
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