Do tube dampers really work?

I recently bought the new Pearl Tube dampers. I didn't notice any difference in the musical presentation, but what I did notice is the elimination of some minor microphonics of my NOS Telefunken E88CC's. Also, they significantly reduced the temperature of the tubes and this is a good thing - the tubes will last longer.

I have used the ARC rings with good results and as a result of this thread ordered the Hal-o rings from Herbie's, not to be confused with Herpes :)

These rings improve performance in several areas but might vary with the components they are used with. First there is a notable lack of microphonics in my new Supratek preamp which I recently received and which was a bit noisy at times, especially with those confounded but wonderful Ken Rad 6SN7 line tubes. The other area is clarity and image focus which I also noted with the ARC rings. They are well worth the expense and to answer your question, yes, they do work. As with all such things, YMMV. For the cost I would give them a try since there is no obligation if they don't. A cheap tweak worth the expense.

Hi Folks...

I'm from Israel, owning a ARC-SP-9/2 + a Dynaco Stereo 70 also series 2.

Thanks to a friend of mine that works for the Army, here..., I obtain from him a lot of "O" rings, widely used for many porpouses in the army, and loaded my Pre + amp with a lot of these "O" rings.

IF...?, I really hear a Improvement....Maybe I'm dreaming!

BUT... make me feel much better!

In those 2 Amperex white PQ 6922 that I installed in my SP-9/2 they obtain 3 "O" rings each one of the tubes.

My Dynaco the two drivers 6GH8A also 3 "O" rings each tube,
for the 4 National branded East Germany Siemens, as was received 16 "O" rings in total > 4 "O" rings each tube.

Of course...as here in Israel it's an a very hot zone..., my Dynaco always work with NO grille,,, the SP-9/2 With!

Good listening...

ALEX

There seems to be some agreement that tube dampers offer an improvement. Why would a manufacturer of a relatively expensive preamp (over 4K) not offer a tube damper as part of the standard equipment to "improve" performance, or at least offer them as an uprgrade? They are not generally very expensive, especially purchased in quantity. If ARC can do it...

Well, ARC does it on all their stuff, one of the reasons I like them. As for why others don't, the cynic in me wants to say that they probably don't want to admit that it's a problem. There's a psychological issue with admitting to yourself that tubes are sensitive to vibration, makes them seem somehow less "perfect" than they were before, and also makes the customers start asking difficult questions, like "why aren't you doing more to isolate the tubes from vibrations, if vibrations clearly cause a performance degradation?" Best not to go there. Witness the several responses above stating categorically that microphony cannot possibly exist unless the tubes are obviously defective. To some, a problem ignored ceases to be a problem. I just wish it worked for me:).