Best tube dampers that you have used

mg16
I would not use them unless I had some microphonics from the tube gear that I could not deal with. I am happy with the sound I am currently achieving in my room, so I won’t F with a good thing.

>>>The interesting thing about the Herbies dampers is they only barely touch the tube glass at all, just enough, the way they’re designed. The other interesting thing is they work even on tubes advertised as very low microphonic. I.e., all tubes are microphonic to some degree. All that’s required is knowing where the getter is.

The king of the meat family for damping tubes of course is Hormel Spam, rolled into little rings, not too hard, not too soft. Just right. And the best part is when the meat is nice and done it makes a great Scooby snack.

If you look long and hard enough you can always find somebody who doesn’t hear it. - Old audiophile expression 😀

Wolfie, I know you aren’t but what am I? One assumes whatever school you went to, if you did go to one, was some sort of fluffy two year trade school.

Uh, Wolfie, it’s all connected- the filament, the internal structure, the glass. Capish? Besides even tubes advertised as low microphonic are in fact microphonic. I guess you’re not much of a tube guy.

I once made the mistake of using hemorrhoid cushions for tube dampers. 

Have I forgotten anybody? Oh, no!  I forgot the 1/8” Marigo VTS Dot Tube damper that gets stuck on the bottom of the glass tube in the center where all the tube pins come out of the glass.

Almost all tube dampers actually hurt the sound. But we’re so convinced Tube dampers are a good thing we leave them on and don’t think twice about it. Big mistake. Most dampers overdamp or have some odd side effect. Herbies are the only ones that improve the sound imho. With some caveats. The trick is where on the tube to place a Herbies damper. You can’t necessarily go with what people say. The best place is usually - but maybe not always - right where the getter is on the tube. So if it’s a top getter the damper goes near the top of the glass. It’s it’s a bottom getter near the bottom of the glass. For large tubes with bases another Herbies can be placed on the base for further improvement. Obviously, it is possible in many cases to spend more on Herbies Dampers that you did on the tubes. 😀