Tube dampeners on ARC gear ... FREE TWEAK

Honestly I would not have thought that the placement would have been so critical on such a small tube, but it is! I also notice that when the rings are low, there is a fattening of the midbass. At first I thought the bass had decreased from pushing the rings up, but then I realized, it wasn't less, but clearer, more tuneful bass, with better extension.  Listening to Bill Evans  live at the village vanguard portrays this well.  You don't realize that all of the bass frequencies are all compressed, and then, once you raise the dampers up higher on the tube, the bass becomes  linear and extended. Same goes for the treble.  This all adds up to seemingly better data retrieval too. And the dynamics- well, they are enough to startle you at low volume.

 Micro vibrations are evil.  I can only imagine just how much my cheap glass and metal rack is hurting my sound. It's not rigid at all. Because of its "avant garde" construction and the weight of the equipment that resides on it, I have 3'4 inch of lateral movement...ugh. I bought it years ago based on looks and it being cheap. 200 bucks out the door.   I was clueless. My equipment looks good on it, but any audiophile in-the-know would shudder at the sight of it. Oh well, a new one will have to wait. Trying to save for a new home. At least for now, I have some butcher blocks and herbies tender feet to help out. The ARC gear remains on stock feet. Thinking about upgrading the tender feet under the CD player. Suggestions? Looking for even more transparency...

Oregonpapa, you had mentioned this to me in one of the SR threads. I had forgotten to reply in regard to my results. I want to thank you for your reccomendation. You are 100% correct. It’s just "mo betta". The frequency extensions are enhanced, air and speed increases, along with greater transparency- and that sense of being live also improves. The image is much sharper as well. It is NOT subtle at all. It is not unlike a fuse or cable upgrade in its effectiveness. In fact, when you AB compare, the higher position wins VERY easily. It almost brings the performance of the preamp to a whole new level. After going back to the dampers in the lower positions, you can hear the smearing. It just KILLS the sound. I sure as hell ain’t going back. Good stuff man! Everyone should at least experiment, I doubt anyone would disagree.

thanks  for your input, gents. I do use sand filled mye stands spiked to the floor through the carpet for my Maggie's, as well as cable elevators. The big porcelain ones. Unfortunately, can't do the weights on top of a planar. I'm also interested in magnetic levetation for my source. Of course, my budget is not in the same league as many here. I was considering playing with brass points as well as the migs too.

Revisiting this "tweak",
I decided to go back in to my preamp and do some experimentation with dampers and pulled off the ARC elastomer rings, and replaced them with some original herbies teflon halo's that  I had in a baggie, in the audio"junk drawer". I placed them in the same spot, (high up as the stock ARC rings were as suggested by oregonpapa). To my surprise, they did in fact bring a sweeter sound, and brought a greater sense of bloom to the instruments, without adding any muddiness.  

The ARC rings sound constricted by comparison and almost give, dare I say "nervous" kind of presentation. The herbies brought a very relaxed sound, with an added sense of ease and weight to the sound. I believe the rings have something to do with the ARC gear having that solid state kind of presentation.  I also feel like the Highes are cleaner and less bright than before.

 Now mind you, these are the original halos, and not the current top of the line herbies dampers.  I'm impressed so far. I will leave them in for a while and listen to more material to really see what they are doing.  I do like the increase in bloom for sure. I think the rings constrict the bloom IMHO.  

Oregonpapa, if you have some herbies that aren’t in use, then I highly suggest that you brush the dust off of them and replace the ARC rings that are at least on the signal tubes of your pre. For me, the difference is not subtle. I do feel at first, you may think you’ve lost some of the highs as compared to the ARC rings, but I think you’ll agree, once you let the herbies settle in, that the ARC rings give a very highly tightly focused sound, but absolutely strangles the bloom of the instruments- Minimizing the full natural fleshiness of them. It may seem at first like a lower Rez, but you will actually realize after a little while, that the sound is actually more true to the real sense of the instrument. Yes, detail is very exciting to me, but it’s not everything. My stereo actually breathes now. I didn’t know just how much of the signature of my preamp was due to the elastomer rings. Yes, with the original herbies halos, the sound is somewhat slower than rings, dynamics are a teeny bit lessened, but the overall presentation is MUCH more tonally correct with more natural timbres, harmonic complexity and image sizes, smoother better defined highs, with better definition, * even if the noise floor seems ever so slightly higher. I’m in love with the new found bass weight. I may need to readjust my subwoofer...I look forward to hearing if you hear what I do. I wonder if the new top of the line herbies would be a worthwhile upgrade from my "old school"halos. The more I listen to different well known material, the more I realize just how the herbies blow the rings away.  I think they sound even better tonight than last night, after settling on the tube.  They are freaking amazing. Wow. Listening to Bon Jovi prayer 94 and it's become a religious experience. It's like a whole new song. In fact I would say. I'm actually hearing MORE resolution! I'm floored. 

Geoffkait, thanks for the suggestion!

Update:

I just learned from Steve at Herbies that the original halos may not tolerate the heat from a 6h30, and "may not hold up in the long run" therefore I will remove them and put the rings back on for now.  He did suggest the rx 9.