Tube dampers

[T-bone Sanchez]

Sorry about the pics, this is my first effort and Ive tried to make them as small as poss.

I knocked one up last night, a damper that is. Bit hasty and no doubt can be done neater but its very simple;

I use copper wire to form the centre, the wire I have been using is 2.5mm think and was stripped out of some wire at work used for three phase. The is from a 16 amp rated cable. I wrap it round something of a similar size (in my case a battery) and cut it so it form a circle. It doesnt matter if its not perfect at the moment. You could always solder the two ends but I like to leave as they are, you can beef up the ptfe abit more as theres abit of expansion. One word of caution, the thicker the copper you use the hotter the damper will get, copper is a dam fine conductor.

Next its a case of wrapping the ptfe round, this pic shows me balls it up coz I went round the wrong way, clockwise is the way to wrap. Just keep building it up till its a tight fit. Do this when the tubes are cold coz tubes expand slightly when warm.

When youve got a tight fit, finish the ends of with a dab of nail varnish, Im a rimmel man myself

Not a great pic but this shows you it in place. If you've got a good, tight fit it doesnt take long for the ring to fit perfectly with tube and you'll find a perfect centre when you take them off.

 

[Lord]

Nice post T-Bone, those dampers look a lot better than the description of them!
A picture speaks a 100 words indeed.

Thanks for keeping the pictures compact too, it's nice to see what someone wants to show without having to scroll the browser window to see all of their 1600 x 1200 uncompressed and uncropped image!

 

[rsand]

Just taken delivery of some self adhesive pvc damping sheets and heat tested some by resting it on top of a valve, it hasnt melted or been affected in any way what are peoples thoughts about sticking patches of this stuff onto the valves?

 

[Anex]

Have you heat tested the glue or just the sheet?

 

[rsand]

Just the sheet I am going to stick some to a light bulb as a test, if it sticks do you think it'll worthwhile?

 

[Anex]

Don't see why not, I'd just be a bit worried about the glue really, be worth keeping an eye on it for a bit.

 

[T-bone Sanchez]

Id say the glue is a concern too. Those tubes get blummin hot. On a personal note I wouldnt want anything stuck to my tube, but then again I do clean them on a regular basis to keep the glass sparklin'

 

[rsand]

I would have put it at the back so not seen, a bit accademic as my light bulb test it started smoking.

 

[alanl]

The tube dampers have arrived from the US and they are very good well made and worth the $$ The first time I turned on the amps there was a bad smell of rubber burning, tonight the smell has gone! and replaced with great sound.

My views & comments of the sound improvements are as follows, There has been no change to the system fundamentals, highs and mid still have the same tonal balance pre the fitting of the dampers which is very good. The change that I was not expecting was the removal of layers of noise, the noise floor has drop at least 20% to reveal small amounts of before hidden detail in the soundstage that was masked before fitting the tube dampers. Music seems to just have more space for the musicians to play within and communicate their joy to be playing that piece of music.

Without a doubt the addition of the dampers has increased my musical enjoyment no end, and for such a small $$ outlay.

Image of dampers fitted,

 

[3DSonics]

Hi,

The tube dampers have arrived from the US[/IMG]

I get mine (exactly same) from RS Components (www.rswww.com - look for silicone rubber O-Rings for food processing equipment), I bought a huge bag a while back and I'm still handing them out and use myself.

Ciao T

 

[rsand]

3D can't seem to find emm on RS

 

[3DSonics]

Hi,

3D can't seem to find emm on RS

Type: "Silicone O-Rings" into the search. Seems they have changed suppliers and these rings are now Blue/White (they ysed the be the reddish orange shown in the picture below).

I like blue better, gotta get me some.... ;-)

Ciao T

 

[rsand]

they look a bit thin compared to the orange ones?

 

[3DSonics]

Hi,

they look a bit thin compared to the orange ones?

Hard to say without actually buying some. the larger diameter orange ones also look quite skinny.

Ciao T

 

[rsand]

True. I will sort some out soon but TBH this is so new I'm just enjoying the music so much right now, I'll save tweeking till I know the sound.

BTW 'Londra, Capital of the Dark Empire' cronicles of castle brass (Hawkmoon) by any chance?

 

[3DSonics]

Hi,

BTW 'Londra, Capital of the Dark Empire' cronicles of castle brass (Hawkmoon) by any chance?

Right on. I do like Moorecock's stories, I only wish he where a writer who applied a little more polish and skill to writing, but the stories make up for a small lack of style....

Ciao T

 

[rsand]

My favourite were the Elric novels, the idea of a half demon, evil hero with vamparic tendencies was quite different to the norm. Korum with his dodgy eye and hand were also worth reading. Few people have even heared of Moorcock which is a shame - I bet you were surprised anyone even picked up on it.

 

[bottleneck]

thats going back! the books of Corum.
I should buy the elric novels, never read them.

 

[3DSonics]

Hi,

Few people have even heared of Moorcock which is a shame - I bet you were surprised anyone even picked up on it.

I read them pretty much all.

When I came over to Londra I worked down at Nottinghill Gate Music & Video Exchange (as EE). We got vouchers valid in the shops as part of the salary and you could even keep items for up to two weeks and bring them back and get your vouchers back (if you worked there).

For an avid reader like me with a tube journey morning & evening from Turnpike Lane to Nottinghill Gate the MVE 2nd Hand Bookshop was cool.

My favourites I guess are the Count Brass and related (I feel MM charaterised imperial, postimperial and neo-imperial british attitudes incredibly well) and the "End of Time" ones, Jerry Cornelius was also cool, even the totally freaked out ones (what the funk was he smoking then?).

My only complaint is that most of his stories feel written hastily and without really sounding out the depth possible.

Some reading recommendations for people who liked MM....

1) Robert Anthony Wilson - Illuminati Trilogy and pretty much all else

2) Tad Williams - the Otherland Books (extremely long story, very good though) and War of the Flowers

3) All good eastern european Science Fiction, that is Stanislav Lem and the Strugatsky Brothers, a good entry point is "Prisoners of Power" (the original title "An Inhabited Island" suits it better) and "It's hard to be a God", you can download them and some others in english here: http://lib.ru/TRANSLATION/

Ciao T