A beneficial Technics tonearm mod that only costs $2.50...

[beatcomber]

I've done a bunch of arms. I may have done Beatcomber's arm in the photo too. Glen, correct me if I'm wrong.

Correct you are, Paul!

 

[thedelihaus]

...Don't knock this technique until you try it.

It's a very clever idea and very easy to apply. Kudos to you for being innovative. My favorite part of it is how easy it is to apply, as well as reverse.

....tape, no matter what kind you use is going to make some kind of mess on the tonearm that might be a bit of a PITA to clean off. Not to mention that it's covering the entire arm, so not really "tuneable"....

You don't need to really cover the whole arm- part, or all, is up to you. I'm not feeling that it needs to be "tuned" either- if it's applied correctly, it should "dampen, not "tune".

A product called "Goo-Gone" makes quick clean-up of any glue residue with no ill effects.

...Heat shrink tubing, once on and fully shrunk is nearly impossible to gt off of something as light and delicate as a tonearm. In order to remove it, it has to be cut/sliced to get off, risking damage to the tonearm...

A careful initial starter cut, and it can be slowly peeled off.




Again, your method is a clever one and will work well. Shrink tube and tape are merely a few alternatives. Sometimes choices are good to have.:thmbsp:

 

[Muddywaters]

forgot to add Blutak or other similar tacky materials are an option as well

 

[bob06]

I like the O-ring Idea. :thmbsp:

 

[flavio81]

I've done a bunch of arms. I may have done Beatcomber's arm in the photo too. Glen, correct me if I'm wrong.

A lighter will work, but I find a heat gun on low setting to start, then high setting, gives bst results.

As does removing the arm tube from the pivot section, the collet, and internal wire- which I do as I also rewire them. Removing as such allows for a more precise end result.

I also damp the arm tube internally with cotton. Kevin at KAB also uses cotton to internally dampen the arm tube.

Lastly, Kevin adds a plastic end cap with o-ring to the tone arm end stub. $4.99. I use this from Kevin, and I add expanding foam (two squishy ear plugs work well) into the end stub.

I finish with higher quality RCA cables.

The shrink tube, cotton, and foam ear plug material are a few dollars.

The tone arm wire and RCAs add around $45 to this, but I feel are worth the investment.

Very nice! Thank you very much!!

 

[cube-tube]

Whether o-rings can "tune" an arm, I really don't know. My thinking on it was that if the tonearm resonates like a string on a violin, then the rings would cause harmonics at higher frequencies. The more you add, the shorter the spaces between the o-rings, possibly, effectively pushing the harmonics up past the range of human hearing.

Honestly, I don't know that I ever heard any resonance with the arm bare. I do know that after adding the o-rings, there are very noticeable improvements. That was something I really wasn't expecting, at least not so drastic.

The amount of mass added to the arm with the five o-rings installed, if it correlates anything near what I had to adjust on the counter weight, is only 0.450g. So in other words, the o-rings added nearly half a gram to the weight of the arm. Either way, it didn't add any ill effects to the overall sound and performance.


And don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking on other ways of damping the tonearm, but it's my personal opinion that the o-rings are the best looking, least obtrusive way to dampen the arm, with the heat shrink tubing coming in a close 2nd.

I can't imagine looking at my TT all day with white teflon tape or blue painters tape, or black electrical tape, or blobs of blu tack, plumbers putty, etc, etc on the tonearm. That would just look tacky to me. It certainly "ain't" pretty! LOL

 

[dumptruck]

The amount of mass added to the arm with the five o-rings installed, if it correlates anything near what I had to adjust on the counter weight, is only 0.450g. So in other words, the o-rings added nearly half a gram to the weight of the arm. Either way, it didn't add any ill effects to the overall sound and performance.

Nah, the weight of the rings by on a scale by themselves is what matters, if it matters to a given cartridge. A tonearm only makes a good scale if you put all the rings on the end right above the stylus and use a gauge under it.

 

[gusten]

Honestly, I don't know that I ever heard any resonance with the arm bare. I do know that after adding the o-rings, there are very noticeable improvements. That was something I really wasn't expecting, at least not so drastic.

The amount of mass added to the arm with the five o-rings installed, if it correlates anything near what I had to adjust on the counter weight, is only 0.450g. So in other words, the o-rings added nearly half a gram to the weight of the arm. Either way, it didn't add any ill effects to the overall sound and performance.

You can calculate the eff. mass added by the o-rings; Sum(( each o-ring weight x (each distance to pivot)^2) = eff. mass at needle x (eff.arm length)^2
gusten

 

[Kappaholic]

If I were to test this improvement with strip of an electrical tape, where would be the most effective area on the tonearm to stick it to?

At one point, I've tried it at the bending curve area but it didn't seem to do anything.

 

[gusten]

If I were to test this improvement with strip of an electrical tape, where would be the most effective area on the tonearm to stick it to?

At one point, I've tried it at the bending curve area but it didn't seem to do anything.

You have some natural flexing points at the arm, one is the joint close to the pivot, one is the counterweight stub´s joint to the pivot and one is the headshells connection to the arm. Tape on the arm has no benefit IMO.
gusten

 

[onwardjames]

I'll be gankin' some shrink wrap from work tmw, but got inspired by this thread. I have a Technics SL1400mk2 and I took some of that really grippy rubber stuff that you can cut into sheets, sliced a piece slim and long, and wrapped it around the tonearm with a tiny piece or two of black electrical tape.

I just wanted to see what it would do.

I can now literally poke the top of the lid while playing, and almost NO bang is heard.

Damping that arm makes a huge difference, at least for me. Thanks for the tip, gentlemen.:thmbsp:

 

[cube-tube]

If I were to test this improvement with strip of an electrical tape, where would be the most effective area on the tonearm to stick it to?

At one point, I've tried it at the bending curve area but it didn't seem to do anything.

Actually, I would think the weakest parts (most likely to resonate) would be the two straight lengths of the arm, not so much the bend. Kind of makes me wonder why I put two o-rings close together right there at the bend. Hmm... :headscrat

Tape on the arm has no benefit IMO.
gusten

Those could be fighting words to some on here. :boxing:

After putting the o-rings on my tonearm, I am now a very firm believer in tonearm dampening. It works, and it works good!

I'll be gankin' some shrink wrap from work tmw, but got inspired by this thread. I have a Technics SL1400mk2 and I took some of that really grippy rubber stuff that you can cut into sheets, sliced a piece slim and long, and wrapped it around the tonearm with a tiny piece or two of black electrical tape.

I just wanted to see what it would do.

I can now literally poke the top of the lid while playing, and almost NO bang is heard.

Damping that arm makes a huge difference, at least for me. Thanks for the tip, gentlemen.:thmbsp:

The picture that you provided looks exactly like those firework snakes! LOL

 

[Catcher10]

Interesting...I have never heard of these tweeks. I don't own a Technics but I do have the Audio Technica copy LP120 direct drive. It seems to be a similar tonearm, visually so i will give it a shot also, why not for $3.

I am not sure what I am looking/hearing for in terms of SQ. My TT sits atop a large big screen TV, framed by 1.5" thick solid oak frame, so I don't get any foot/floor noise vibrations at all, plus my system is in the lower level on concrete floor.

But heck I'll try it out.

 

[gusten]

Those could be fighting words to some on here. :boxing:

After putting the o-rings on my tonearm, I am now a very firm believer in tonearm dampening. It works, and it works good.

It´s a risk one is taking, I´m use to it. Tonearm damping is very difficult and encourage to put pieces of tape on it doesn´t really help, as I see it.
gusten

 

[cube-tube]

Tonearm damping is very difficult and encourage to put pieces of tape on it doesn´t really help, as I see it.
gusten

Have you tried it? It's not "very difficult", in fact, it's not difficult at all. Quite honestly, I can't see how you can make such a bold statement that it doesn't help.

I've got the proof right here in front of me, was as easy as pie to apply, and the results are better than expected. And I'm obviously not the only one experiencing this. There's literally hundreds if not thousands of people who have done similar and have received similar results.

So either you haven't tried it yet yourself, or you system isn't revealing enough to pick up the improved details and such from this extremely easy mod.

 

[Daniel Walte]

Lets examine what we are trying to accomplish with o-rings, Teflon tape, shrink wrap. Ok, years ago it was discovered that ringing when the album is playing takes a circular fashion that rotates towards the bearings and ends up influencing<coloring> the sound because of this. Now it was discovered that a thin line of paint applied to the arm from headshell up the tube. Bottom of the arm , so it cannot be seen. This will stop the ringing and not be seen for the most part.

 

[Daniel Walte]

maybe that's why some of them old dual`s that didn`t use round arms sounded so good. The 1212 comes to mind. ringing isn`t a problem unless you have a round tubed arm

 

[cube-tube]

Everything resonates at some frequency, no matter what the shape. And as far as I'm aware, nearly 99% of the tonearms out there, new and old are tubular.

 

[thedelihaus]

...Tape on the arm has no benefit IMO.
gusten

Gusten,

Try this:

Take a hollow pipe and strike it on something hard. Then take the pipe, wrap it in tape, and repeat.

Or, take a bell and ring it. Then wrap the bell in tape, or paint it with that rubber tool grip (comes in spray cans too, and is easily peeled off). Then ring it.

Audioquest uses a sleeve on the complete length of the outside of their arms. I've had a few late model Sumikos with the same external treatment. Sumiko also uses foam in the center of the tube for damping. All the early sumiko "S" shaped arms have this foam insert that runs the full length of the arm tube.

I feel this alone is a big reason folk prefer a stock Sumiko over a stock hollow arm tube technics.


EDIT: I forgot to mention that the early aluminum tubed Infinity arms were aluminum with a black coating over them, the coating to act as a dampening agent. The tube is also "stepped" (see below). Later models utilized tubes that were tapered carbon fiber.

EDIT #2: Alphason also used an internal foam to dampen their tube. Forgot that one.

 

[thedelihaus]

Everything resonates at some frequency, no matter what the shape. And as far as I'm aware, nearly 99% of the tonearms out there, new and old are tubular.

Most arms are tubular. A good design by Rega (and by Infinity and ADC and others) is using either a "stepped" (two different diameter) arm tube or a tapered arm tube to fight resonance.