Orig. Well Tempered Record Player - 2 Questions?

Yes you want to make sure the lines are exactly tensioned so the cup is not touching the sides and level. The amount of fluid is determined by the sound you want and the cartridge being used. You want to start with just enough silicone to cover the paddle. Play with loading and tracking force first then if needed add more silcone if you want to acheive a certain sound. More silcone will change the sound making it sound richer, darker, softer on the top end, less dynamic, giving it a quieter background, its finding the right balance with the rest of the system.

Kevin
40 years hi-end audio video specialist

I owned the Well Tempered Record Player, and it's certainly easy to get it wrong if you've never seen one properly set up.

1) If the suspension lines are touching the armtube, I'm guessing you have the paddle turned on it's axis. The holes in the paddle where the lines feed through should be exactly perpendicular to the armtube. It's also possible you have the tonearm pillar at the wrong angle.

2) The amount of damping fluid is inversely proportional to the compliance of your cartridge. Low compliance cartridges generally need the paddle fully submerged, sometimes as deep as .25" under the surface. Some high compliance cartridges can run with the bottom of the paddle just barely touching the surface of the silicone. Medium compliance cartridges are somewhere in between. You have to experiment with every cartridge, and very small changes in the fluid level can make a big difference in sonics and tracking.

I have multiple PDFs of WT setup documents. Send me an email through the Audiogon system and I'll be happy to forward what I have.

David