SME 3009 damping

[Barton Price]

I’ve just been reading about adding a damping kit to my sme 3009 (2. fixed head shell). Sounds like a good idea - has anyone out there got any experience with it? The arm is on a Thorens TD 125, with a Shure type iii / Jico SAS.

[aussievintage]

Do you mean that trough thing that you fill with fluid that has a paddle connected to the arm?   I have always though it might get messy with dust etc - but I admit I don't know exactly how it is made.   I don't have them on my SME3009 arms

[Barton Price]

Yup - that’s the thing

[t_mike]

Expect to pay about $300 for  complete kit. If you're happy to venture that amount, give it a try. I hear the results differ greatly between set ups, so trial and error it will be. On the upside, if you're not happy with it, there is no problem selling it on.

[Barton Price]

So the question then becomes - where’s the best place to invest $300? I thought damping sounded like a fun thing to try.... but better cables, power? Turntable shelf?

[rocky500]

I have a Pioneer Turntable that has damping but the general consensus is to disable it from reading online.

Not sure this is applicable to other tables in any way but in my short testing it did sound better without any damping.

Edited April 18, 2019 by rocky500

[Barton Price]

Here’s the damping kit:

http://www.smetonearms.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=31

[aussievintage]

1 hour ago, Rangi said:

where’s the best place to invest $300

My thoughts about tonearm damping is that a properly setup arm with properly matching cartridge, playing good condition, unwarped records, probably doesn't need artificial damping.

 

1 hour ago, Rangi said:

but better cables, power? Turntable shelf?

I would look at what it is sitting on, and the turntable plinth itself.   I think that has great potential to improve things.

[andyr]

1 hour ago, aussievintage said:

My thoughts about tonearm damping is that a properly setup arm with properly matching cartridge, playing good condition, unwarped records, probably doesn't need artificial damping.

 

I think that's a generalisation, av.

 

I owned a Graham 2.2 UP arm for about 10 years.  Graham recommended injecting some silicon fluid into the bowl surrounding the pivot - however, the level of fluid was critical.

 

Too much and the arm sounded dead … too little was also a problem.  Goldilock's conundrum at work. 

 

So SME3009 damping may well be a valid issue.

 

Quote

I would look at what it is sitting on, and the turntable plinth itself.   I think that has great potential to improve things.

 

That certainly does - however, an optimal support mechanism and an optimally designed plinth may not remove the need for some damping - around a UP, anyway.

 

 

Regards,

Andy

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by andyr

[aussievintage]

40 minutes ago, andyr said:

I think that's a generalisation, av.

 

I owned a Graham 2.2 UP arm for about 10 years.  Graham recommended injecting some silicon fluid into the bowl surrounding the pivot - however, the level of fluid was critical.

 

Too much and the arm sounded dead … too little was also a problem.  Goldilock's conundrum at work. 

The SME3009 is not a unipivot.  Most arms are not UP.  Special case. I am happy enough with my generalisation

Edited April 18, 2019 by aussievintage

[Hayabusa]

Hi, I put one of those on my 3009 when I had a Linn many, many years ago and a V15/3. Took it off after a little while I thought it deadened the music. I had a similar trough on a Triplanar I had much later. The trough deadened the music so I took it off and put it in the box! Guess I don’t like damping troughs. Puttingthe money towards a better cartridge might be a better bet IMO

[aussievintage]

11 minutes ago, Hayabusa said:

. Puttingthe money towards a better cartridge might be a better bet IMO

 

I thought about mentioning that in my reply.  I know the Shure V15 III cart with an SAS stylus has a lot of followers.  $300 would get a new AT VM95ML.  I can only compare the VM95ML to other Shure carts I have like the M75, M91, M95, M97 that I have with only ellipticals on them, and it is much better than that.

Edited April 18, 2019 by aussievintage

[andyr]

2 hours ago, aussievintage said:

The SME3009 is not a unipivot.  Most arms are not UP.  Special case. I am happy enough with my generalisation

 

As am I, av (happy with my generalisation)! 

 

I'm aware that an SME3009 is not a UP - and what I actually said was "SME3009 damping may well be a valid issue".  And note - not all UPs need damping:

• sure, my G2.2 did
• but the Magnepan 'Unitrac' and Duc's 'Univector' that I am currently using ... don't have any damping.

 

Andy

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by andyr

[t_mike]

On 18/04/2019 at 11:55 AM, Rangi said:

Here’s the damping kit:

http://www.smetonearms.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=31

I thought you said your arm was a series 2. That kit is for a series 3. They are different. 

[andyr]

On 18/04/2019 at 3:30 PM, Hayabusa said:

Hi, I put one of those on my 3009 when I had a Linn many, many years ago and a V15/3. Took it off after a little while I thought it deadened the music. I had a similar trough on a Triplanar I had much later. The trough deadened the music so I took it off and put it in the box! Guess I don’t like damping troughs. Puttingthe money towards a better cartridge might be a better bet IMO

 

Interesting comment, Ian.

 

It would seem that damping applied at the pivot point (as in my G2.2) has a different effect to damping along the arm - like this 3009 kit.

 

Andy

 

[Hayabusa]

Andy, that could well be the case. With the Triplanar, I am sure it was put on as an afterthought to appease some potential owners who were wedded to damping per se rather than a fix for an identified weakness. The sound was absolutely better without the damping as was the case with the SME. 

[Barton Price]

If the link I posted is wrong- it’s just an example. There are definitely damping kits out there for a series 2. But regardless, I’d say 60/40 against damping in the comments so far!