Graham 2.2 damping fluid amount?


The Graham 2.2 manual suggests a range of damping fluid amounts. Has anyone experimented with varying the amount from bare minimum to the max of that range to see how it affects the sound?
rgurney

Showing 1 response by sniper101

Ok, Has anyone tried different Damping fluids? I could not get rid of a feeling that the 2.2 sounded too damped for a uni-pivot, I just expected more.

With the blue fluid I could not get rid of the feeling that this arm was not performing to its max, even with Sirspeedy’s damping fluid tweaks. I just felt that it sounded like an SME IV's sound but with more flow to the music. I always felt the 2.2 should have been well beyond the SME IV in terms of openness. I don't know whether the damping fluid I have was too old, too thick or just plain wrong. I asked a friend to come around and bring his SME IV damping fluid with him.

To test whether the SME fluid was thinner than the graham fluid I placed a blob of both fluids next to each other and with a pin in each hand I did stick The afore mentioned pins into each blob at the same time. I then withdrew the pins so as to produce a tail on top of the blobs. The SME damping fluid’s tail withdrew back into the blob much quicker than the Grahams.
So I tried it in the Graham and following Sirspeedy’s fluid regime. I found the SME fluid to be Much more open and cleaner sounding, I could use less fluid and still get a cleaner sound. In-fact the more SME fluid I added the more precise the sound stage became without becoming dull or recessed.

It was not a minor tweak.

Anyone else tried something like this?