Nest Theater Part Fifteen - Tube Dampers 15Sep20

I had noticed the effects of some microphonic distortion when I muted the Nest Theater from a loud volume... basically a slight lingering of tube vibration was heard during the mute. So, I figured that the effect was present in the sound when being driven too (though I could not hear it then) and set out to fix it. I investigated a number of ways to dampen the tubes and settled on Herbie's dampers - these are titanium 3/4 rings in sizes appropriate for specific tubes - they are outfitted with silicon or rubber and plastic plugs which touch the tubes. I ordered the right stuff for both the pre-amp tubes and 300B power-amp tubes. They worked; the microphonics I heard have been eliminated.