What would I get out of damping fluid?

Turntablebasics.com is one source for Styringes of Tonearm Damping Fluids, of a few different viscosities.

Tough to say what benefits you might reap? The AQ Arm is not a bad Arm, I have two, and at first thought I was going to need Danmping Fluids to control a new ZYX Airy 3X. But with some break in time, and further fine adjustments to the Airy 3, it seems to be behaving quite nicely lately.

Are they worth a try? Sure, but you may find the differences very subtle, and might actually be more of a detriment, than an improvement. Mark

Actually, I found the difference - with or without damping fluid - quite profound. I have a VPI 10.5i with a Benz Ebony LP, and that combination "likes" a bit of damping. The results are more air, depth..all the good stuff. If I use too much, all of the good stuff closes in.

Damping settles down what I call "groove chatter." On percussion with sharp initial transients followed by complex overtones (bells, finger cymbals, triangles, tambourine, etc.) you get a more realistic sound without over-ring and distortion. It also lowers the arm/cartridge resonance frequency, whatever it might be. It makes a bad match better, and a good match closer to ideal. With the proper amount of fluid, you get a better sense of the formation of notes, their bloom, and then their fade.

But as Stringreen says, if you use too much, it sucks all the excitement and much of the dynamics out of the playback. A little dab'll do ya. But a little dab does a lot more for the music than none.