Triplanar VII tonearm & Koetsu Jade Platinum cart.

I wouldn't intentionally pair a TriPlanar and a Koetsu myself. I've heard both components sound better with other partners. The TriPlanar is better suited to more compliant cartridges, Koetsus do better with higher mass arms.

Therefore, some of the tips on that thread will apply and some won't. As Lewm discovered, a Koetsu does not track well enough on this arm to implement the low antiskating force that works so well with ZYX, Lyra and other medium compliance cartridges. The fact that he needs the damping fluid to control HF's is another indicator of a less than optimal match. No one using more compatible cartridges like the ones just mentioned needs or even likes the damping fluid, AFAIK. Most of us have removed our damping fluid troughs altogether, to good effect.

For those who already have a TriPlanar and Koetsu, I would suggest trying to increase the arm's effective mass. Headshell weights and/or lighter counterweights located farther from the pivot might help the combination work better.

Doug

Herb Papier (creator of the Triplanar) was a perfectionist, and it was not for nothing that he added the damping trough to later iterations of his tonearm.

True enough, but Herb didn't have access to truly well damped cartridges like a ZYX UNIverse, Lyra Olympos or Transfiguration Orpheus, to name a few of today's best. They simply didn't exist in his day. Herb did his best to overcome problems created by the cartridges of his time.

Dgad's comment re: the Ikeda arm reminded me that Raul reported that his Ikeda was the best match for his Koetsu RSP from all the 20-something tonearms in his collection. Higher mass is perhaps the key.

In the US the online retailers sell headshell shims for this purpose. They can mount on top of a TriPlanar headshell to avoid affecting VTA.

You could DIY some yourself pretty easily. You might try different materials, since their effect on resonance behavior will vary. Shims like this muddy the sound of my ZYX UNIverse, but with a Koetsu it might be different.