I bought an Elite Rock in 89, I used it with a Rega 300 arm for 20 years and tried it with and without the trough and outrigger but never for very long. I then bought a lightly used Naim Aro, and initially used the damping arrangement but this time when I tried without it never went back on. Cartridge was a DV17D2, or rather several of them. I say never but that’s not strictly true. I had the Rock fitted with Max’s bellows feet, which I found a nice improvement over the sorbothane originals, and at the same time bought a white polyethylene platter as used on the mk7, though machined to fit the mk2. Using this the stylus wouldn’t stay in the groove without use of the trough on the Aro but though sounding impressively more dynamic the timing went all awry and music became less engaging so the plaster platter went back on and the trough came off. Max would blame the unipivot arm, I blame his plastic platter for reflecting vibrations back into the disc instead of damping them. A VRS record weight didn’t make enough difference when I tried one and anyway gets in the way at the end of side.
I reckon you can underdamp or overdamp, getting the right amount is the key.
I reckon you can underdamp or overdamp, getting the right amount is the key.