^^^ Agreed. I've had the experience of over dampening a number of times. It calls to mind an experiment I did with shrink wrap on my Well Tempered tone arm. First layer - overall improvement. Second layer - no change. Third layer - a dulling of the sound. I settled on one layer and that layer remains on the tone arm to this day.
Tube dampeners on ARC gear ... FREE TWEAK
Here's a cheap (free) tweak for owners of ARC gear using the black tube dampeners. If you move both dampeners as far up toward the top of the tube as possible without having the top one fall off, taking care that both dampeners are solidly touching each other, you will get better dynamics, bass, mids, highs and a lower noise floor. Try it ... you'll like it.
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Oregonpapa, if you have some herbies that aren’t in use, then I highly suggest that you brush the dust off of them and replace the ARC rings that are at least on the signal tubes of your pre. For me, the difference is not subtle. I do feel at first, you may think you’ve lost some of the highs as compared to the ARC rings, but I think you’ll agree, once you let the herbies settle in, that the ARC rings give a very highly tightly focused sound, but absolutely strangles the bloom of the instruments- Minimizing the full natural fleshiness of them. It may seem at first like a lower Rez, but you will actually realize after a little while, that the sound is actually more true to the real sense of the instrument. Yes, detail is very exciting to me, but it’s not everything. My stereo actually breathes now. I didn’t know just how much of the signature of my preamp was due to the elastomer rings. Yes, with the original herbies halos, the sound is somewhat slower than rings, dynamics are a teeny bit lessened, but the overall presentation is MUCH more tonally correct with more natural timbres, harmonic complexity and image sizes, smoother better defined highs, with better definition, * even if the noise floor seems ever so slightly higher. I’m in love with the new found bass weight. I may need to readjust my subwoofer...I look forward to hearing if you hear what I do. I wonder if the new top of the line herbies would be a worthwhile upgrade from my "old school"halos. The more I listen to different well known material, the more I realize just how the herbies blow the rings away. I think they sound even better tonight than last night, after settling on the tube. They are freaking amazing. Wow. Listening to Bon Jovi prayer 94 and it's become a religious experience. It's like a whole new song. In fact I would say. I'm actually hearing MORE resolution! I'm floored. |
I think it's worth mentioning that for larger tubes like 6SN7 and large rectifier tubes such as the coke bottle Tung Sol, a second Herbies damper placed on the base of the tube will further improve upon the first damper (which should be located on the glass portion wherever the getter is located. For bottom getters the damper should be placed on the bottom of the glass. |
Very useful information in this thread. I've been contemplating buying Herbies Dampers for my ARC Ref 75SE and Modwright 36.5. It's good to hear the favourable reports. I have always believed the standard position for a damper is about 1/3 down from the top of the tube, that's any tube. It seems it's more complicated. I do love the ARC, but it doesn't have a hewn from a billet of Aluminium |
Audiolover ... Thanks for the VERY well written report on the Herbie dampeners. Your experience isn't unlike what I've experienced with other tweaks that reduce micro vibrations throughout the system. What you've described is akin to getting closer to the sound of real instruments playing live in the room. Whenever I listen to live music, I try to compare it to what I hear in my system. This includes live concerts ... and my town's high school marching band at Friday night football games. (yep, I'm totally hooked on high school football.) What I notice with the live music is that it is really laid back compared to reproduced music in the home. Very natural sounding. No blare ... or "cringe factor," if you will. You're right about "seeming lower rez." That's what I hear with live music ... even when playing at its loudest, it still has a relaxed sense to it. You've got me really curious about the Herbies now. David 12 ... I have the ARC Ref-75 SE too. Just as a suggestion, exchange the stock fuse with a Synergistic Research Black fuse. The KT-150 is a great tube and allows for that "low grain" presentation and the good dynamics. BUT, what I thought was a close to a grain-free amp, was transformed with the SR Black fuse. Give it 50-100 hours to break in and you'll be amazed. Here's a link: http://highend-electronics.com/products/synergistic-research-black-quantum-fuses Thanks for the information on the Herbies goodies, guys. OP |
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