How about wrapping the tonearm??

[inperson]

I asked in another thread about "isolation" feet and that got many interesting responses.

Another question. I have seen photo's of people's TT with their tonearm wrapped in some kind of (I guess) sound altering materials. Is this a widely practiced modification? If so what are some of the things people use?

inperson

[Gary]

I think I've seen pictures.... I thought it helped stop vibration!

But I really have no idea......

[Rolf Erickson]

I would think this is to dampen arm resonances, could work very well at the cost of increasing the effective "Mass" of the arm... a compromise that could be well worth it. I have used sticky material to dampen the platter on the underside to reduce the "ringing" of the metal parts. Rolf E.

As an experiment, DIY could just take some adhesive tape and wrap an arm and listen to see what happens..? Black Vinyl electrical could be good... It's easy to remove if it is a failure.. I myself have dampened a headshell/cartridge with some tiny bits of "foam" and electrical tape placed into the headshell against the cart to improve and reduce some resonances I found in them. Made the sound crisper and cleaner. I have done this for years when I find it necessary.

[inperson]

I would think this is to dampen arm resonances, could work very well at the cost of increasing the effective "Mass" of the arm... a compromise that could be well woth it. I have used sticky material to dampen the platter on the underside to reduce the "ringing" of the metal parts. Rolf E.


What kind of sticky material and was this platter from a 'cheap' TT?

[Rolf Erickson]

What kind of sticky material and was this platter from a 'cheap' TT?

Yes, a customer brought a "cheap" low-end Technics TT to me to repair a speed problem, and I found the thin aluminum platter "rang" like a bell, so I just placed some woofer sealant putty I had around, in a few spots under the platter, and it improved (reduced ringing) greatly.

[VinylSoul]

I've heard it mentioned that some use heat shrink tubing applied to arms to dampen resonances. One wold have to be somewhat careful as to how or what was applied to a platter you would not want to effect it's balance.

[proufo]

For a damping compound to have a significant effect it must provide a constrained layer. The mass would tend to be excessive but a tightly wrapped elastomeric compound could be useful.

It's easy to avoid vibrations reaching the air and become inaudible, but that doesn't reduce the energy very much. It is also easy to eliminate audible resonances but there's much more energy outside the few resonant frequencies.

I tend to believe it is better to have a tonearm and a tonearm bearing that is designed to transfer the energy to the plynth and then use mass and dampers to get rid of the energy within the TT body.

[bdiament]

Hi inperson,

Do you mean something like:

boom-boom-bop
boom-boom-bop
I've got a tonearm and its body is round!
I use it to deliver my favorite sound!
I know that when it's working I'm homeward bound!
And my long lost soul can then be found!

?

Oh, sorry. Wrapping!
It made me thing of rapping.
;-}

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

[thegage]

I can't remember the name or the manufacturer exactly, but about 15 years ago there was something like the "LP Survival Kit" which included an arm wrap and a very thin turntable mat. The wrap was very stretchy, and you wrapped it with some tension in order to do the constrained layer thing. The mat was like a very thin piece of non-woven material, the idea to break the platter/LP interface.

Eminent Technology makes their ET-2 arm wands with an outer damping material.

John K.

[TONEPUB]

rapping, that's funny.

However as I remember Ice-T once said, that if you
are white, you can't be down, so I guess that eliminates
me...

Though I've been known to bust a rhyme or two on occasion.

[bdiament]

rapping, that's funny.

However as I remember Ice-T once said, that if you
are white, you can't be down, so I guess that eliminates
me...

Though I've been known to bust a rhyme or two on occasion.

Hi Jeff,

I don't know if he meant it this way but in my view, "whiteness" in this context, is way deeper than (and has nothing to do with) skin.

May we all "be down" (in a good way, of course). ;-}

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

[hifi_nut]

Origin Live, in the UK, puts some kind of foam inside the arm tube in some of their models. Adds little to total mass, and seems to work pretty well.

Jorge

[JBStephens]

At Dollar General you can get this sort of foam rubber "net" that is used on shelves to keep dishes and glasses in one place. I cut a 2" wide strip of that and used it to wrap the arm. While it did help to dampen the resonance of the arm, it made it heavier and so it did not cope as well with warps and bumps on the record. You can also cut a 12" disc of the stuff and try it as a record mat. But I didn't notice a difference in sound with it, for better or worse. On a belt drive turnable with a platter that rang like a bell, I coated the underside with silicon latex roofing compound. From "ring" to "thup" which definitely did make a difference, the bass tightened up a bit. I also mixed the roof coating and sand and used it as a coating for my speaker enclosures. Worked great, but took forever to get the job done, because you can only do the side that's laying down, let it dry for an entire day and turn the box for the next side.

[ducatirider]

just some food for thought,...some arms are designed to be light, rigid and release energy quickly ala linn and rega. wrapping them might "store" energy only to be released later muddling the sound.

[TONEPUB]

agreed!

[michael w]

I can't remember the name or the manufacturer exactly, but about 15 years ago there was something like the "LP Survival Kit" which included an arm wrap and a very thin turntable mat. The wrap was very stretchy, and you wrapped it with some tension in order to do the constrained layer thing. The mat was like a very thin piece of non-woven material, the idea to break the platter/LP interface.

Eminent Technology makes their ET-2 arm wands with an outer damping material.

John K.

That was the Sumiko Analog Survival Kit; arm wrap and ultra thin turntable mat.

Music Direct sold a similar armwrap, black instead of the transparent Sumiko.

I've got the MD stuff on my Well Tempered Arm.

Cheap and effective.

The Sumiko kit is no longer available but the MD is still listed;

http://www.musicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AMDTA18

[BillyBuck]

I had a Thorens TD160 with the stock arm, basically a hollow tube. Wrapping the arm in three or four times in teflon tape (the stuff plumbers use to seal joints) got rid of an annoying midrange coloration and didn't seem to affect the arm's ability to navigate warps. Plus it was easy to undo when I sold the table.

Whatever you use, I'd be careful not to unbalance the arm by applying weight unevenly. Also, don't forget that you'll have to rebalance your 0 tracking point when you're finished.

[BillyBuck]

One more thing--wrapping the arm made a very noticeable reduction in surface noise and pop/clicks.