Damping fluid/grease for Mayware Unipivot?

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)

60,000 CST, IIRC

I hate the the way Audiogon titles posts ;)

Thanks for the useful pointer Stefanl but it studies a turntables performance in a manner with which I am familiar. In the 70s discussing turntable performance in the press on this sort of basis was fairly common.

Johnnantais I thank you for trying to tell me what dynamics means to a turntable but I must admit to being little wiser. Although there is quite a lot in your answer with which I disagree I am not sure a debate will be fruitful if we do not subscribe to the same set of beliefs on which to base our arguments. However, I am sure we can both agree to enjoy the music however we may go about optimising the sound quality. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions.