What are good turntable acoustic damping materials

Faradayblue, tread very carefully in "improving" the TD160 Super, as it incorporated many of the tweaks - damping materials and so forth - that were being used at the time. Over-damping will kill the dynamics of the 'table, lead sheet being especially dangerous in this regard. You should set up the 'table first and live with it for a while before attempting any mods, as only in this way will you know whether something is an actual improvement or not. Have you upgraded the tonearm (what is it, by the way?) or cartridge (ditto) yet? These are safer improvements until you get a handle on the 'table's strengths, so you can make wise decisions when you are ready to tackle the issue of changing the design somewhat. Here's a good source of info on mods popular at the time, complete with articles and so forth: http://www.theanalogdept.com/thorens_td_160_dept_.htm. An excellent website with reams of material.

Faradayblue, I know of only two Mission tonearms: one was slim and was the 774, the other was massive - much more "chunky" than a Rega for instance - and was called the Mechanic. The slim one was considered good, and with MMs such as the Grados for instance, are sonically superior to the Regas, MMs in general (and in my own experience/experiments) preferring lower-mass arms, regardless of what the manufacturers say (these same manufacturers feel compelled to write that their designs prefer medium or high-mass tonearms because apart from the Morch that's prety well all there is these days!). As far as MCs go, then the Regas probably have it, though this isn't certain. If it is the large, chunky piece of business, then this is the legendary Mechanic which I would give my eyeteeth to have, a superb tonearm which you should keep, assuming the bearings have not been damaged. At best, have it re-wired by the folk at Incognito.

Barry, I have absolutely nothing against intelligent use of damping. But given that perfection is not possible in this world, at any price, do we really want to highlight any weaknesses a turntable must have by over-application of damping? In other words, if a "lesser" 'table sounds greatly musical because (like the LS3/5A which used an entertaining boost to better convey rhythm and the illusion of bass) it has a resonance somewhere which is musically satisfying, then do we really want to wipe out this musical resonance? This is with the understanding that no amount of damping will make a Thorens TD160 Super a Walker Proscenium, and it is foolish to try, as one simply ends up with a lesser Proscenium, but without that entertaining extra "bounce" a classic 'table may have, being it's sole advantage over more "neutral" designs. I've read a large amount of material on damping over the decades and have used and experimented with all kinds of materials and continue to do so, and agree with you entirely that damping has several beneficial effects. But these improvements must not sacrifice the essential musicality or "magic" of a design in the doing, or we end up with a "neutral" piece (and this neutrality may itself be a colouration) which simply falls musically flat. What profits it a man to gain the world and lose his soul? Similarly, what profits it an audiophile to gain neutrality and lose the music? Do we want to wipe out the resonances of a Stradivarius to make it more neutral? Sometimes certain resonances enhance the music, while others detract. The secret in damping a record player is to find which spots can be damped without sacrificing the music, and to leave the design "strengths" alone, knowing that the 'table will never be "perfect". With this in mind, I advise Faradayblue to get to know his player before he embarks on modifications. For instance I own a TD160 MKII and a Maplenoll. The Thorens will never equal the Maplenoll in terms of all those audiophile strengths we seek, but the Thorens does have an entertaining musicality about it which I quite like, this particular quality being superior to the Maplenoll on strictly musical/entertaining grounds. I will tweak it, but also be very careful not to wipe out this ingredient. Intelligent application of damping in a world where technical perfection is not possible, but poetic perfection can be attained: the Stradivarius.