Sorry, second sentence, first word should have been "overhang", of course. Sean, when I get the damper, I'll post my experience. My own theory about Merrill's observation would be that damping may attenuate some tonearm ringing, which might seem (like many resonances do unless you get used to their absence) to in some way add "excitement" to the presentation. But this is only my theory; what do I know yet, since I haven't tried it?