Anyone using silicone oil for dampening??

Bigkidz,
I think you misunderstood me. I never claimed that damping was ineffective. I was making the point that oil damping is only half of a suspension system. You need some type of spring, whether it is compressed air, a metal spring, or even magnets, you need something that is compliant and supports the load. Moving oil around is a very effective way of removing whatever energy gets into the system through vibrations. But just adding oil in where the air goes will not do much other than displace a volume of compressed air, thus increasing your spring rate, making the whole thing stiffer. The perfect set up is to have some seperate unit, such as a paddle hanging into an oil bath, that damps out the pogostick effect of the spring. But you need to be careful not to make it too stiff, or it will actually let more high freq vibration through.

Jkring,

I have the opposite experience with dampening. First having the room treated and having quite AC were the first issues that were addressed. Once that was completed, the dampening of the entire rack of components, each individual component and cables, wire, ICs have added more dynamics. Vibration is what seems to rob a system of dynamics and detail. In my friends system, everything is dampened/floating except for the speakers. The dynamics and detail are unreal, and you don't have to turn the system volume up to achieve this, you can basically talk over the volume and the dynamics and details are really that good. There are some products on the market that use air in them to isolate a component, we are trying to use something similar but add the silicone oil with the air to assist with additional component dampening.

Happy Listening

Here's a link for silicone oil of various viscosities:

http://www.turntablebasics.com/silicone.html

Basis uses silicone in their TT. You might give A.J. a call to discuss.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Damping = removing energy from a system, Dampening = make wet

To use oil for damping, it would have to be in something like a shock absorber, with a paddle or valved piston in the oil. Just like a car, this shock would also need a spring as it will not hold things up on its own.

- Jeff

Bigkidz, the challenge with silicone is that it migrates everywhere and can create a real mess that can be very difficult to clean completely. If you want to try some damping pads, Loon's suggestion of sorbathane would be a better and safer option. Also consider Vibrapods. But, before going with a dampening solution like sorbathane or Vibrapods, be sure to do some reading in the archives. Experience with these solutions is far from uniformly positive. Good luck!
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Try sorbathane.

loon

Thanks Rushton,

I was looking at the silicone oil to use in dampening my racks and components by making/finding some type of small pads that I could sit my components or rack shelves on. Not sure what but in reading about dampening materials, silicone oil was an option to air, cones/spikes, pucks, ball and bearing type devices. I don't want the silicone to be hard or gel like, more in the lines of a liquid.

Are you asking about dampening for a tonearm? If so, rather than silicone, consider using what Lloyd Walker supplies in the damping tray of his turntable: 50% STP and 50% 0-30w synthetic motor oil (e.g., Mobil 1).
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