Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Thanks for the picture of the manifold Chris.  Mine looks nothing like that.  Every screw hole has been, for lack of a better word, buffed.  The edges around the holes have been sanded to where the edge of the screw is merged with the manifold. Not sure why it's that way, but I'm sure Bruce will make it right. 

For now, I've set up two complete armwand / wire looms.  One for the Zephyr and one for the Delos using the carbon fiber and aluminum wands respectively.  My hope is that I can get them both properly calibrated and then be able to swap them out and not have to do a lot of re-alignment beyond SRA/ VTA and tracking weight.  It's not in my virtual system photos, but I do have one of those run-out gauges you can attach to the top of the tonearm manifold housing that allows you to see exactly what the current tonearm height is.  

Mike
that manifold picture was sent to me by my audio friend down in Southern California. He had bought the ET2 used (not sure where it was sourced from), but it’s a good sample of what can happen when one runs the tonearm in a humid dirty climate without proper filters / moisture control. The good thing is this is not like rust on a car, and it is easily cleaned up; if one is a Type A personality :^)

My Timeter Air pump heats up the air, then with coils, condenses the air, and drains the moisture into a pan inside the pump box, like a car’s AC system. It sends clean desert like air down the line. Have never seen any liquid buildup in the bulb next to the table (except for the time the pumps drain tube became plugged - a story in itself). I have had no reason to pull out the manifold to look at it, so not sure if the screws have been buffed like yours.

What I can tell you is being set up for 19 PSI, it is very difficult to push the spindle through manifold (tight) without the air on. With the air on it is the smoothest bearing.

Hi Chris
I also have a moister collecting bulbs but I've never seen a drop in them.  My JUN-AIR compressor is about 25 feet away and has a moisture collecting feature that must work pretty well.  Link to image below.   My spindle moves very easily under pressure, and stiffly with no pressure. The buffing on the manifold looks like someone has taken a dremel tool to the surface. I don't think it's from my air supply, but I'm just going to have to let Bruce tell me what's going on.  I will try to post a picture of it before I send it off.  http://www.jun-air.com/product_images/6-25.jpg

Hi Chris.  I realized I never responded to your question about using silk thread in lieu of the rubber belt.  For one, the noise floor is lower.  Speed stability I'm not sure of, but it's definitely as good as with the standard belt.  Getting the tension right is a PITA, as I have to move the entire turntable to change it.  FWIW, I'm using silk bead thread #2, and have had the same belt for a year now.  I snapped a few early on adjusting tension, but this latest one is still working just fine. 

I know we sometimes deviate from the main topic, and I'd like to do so. For the last two weeks I've been auditioning an Almarro A318B integrated amp and Vaugh Plasma Signature speakers. Mostly I've been swapping between two full arm looms (cartridge, arm wand, wiring), one with a Lyra Delos and one with a Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC.  My findings are that the Delos has more body but doesn't dig out the details like the Soundsmith. The Delos seems more sensitive to  SRA and tracking force, while the Zephyr's ability to extract all that detail is very much tied to getting Azimuth just right.  I'm going to work on it again today, but just wanted to pass on these observations.  If someone has had a different experience, or any insights, I'm all ears.

Hi Mike re: your carts my two cents.

I’ve set up two complete armwand / wire looms. One for the Zephyr and one for the Delos using the carbon fiber and aluminum wands respectively

Your carts from the specs appear to both be line contact designs.
The Zephr at 10 μm/mN compliance the Delos at 12 x 10-6cm/dyne at 100Hz. Similar compliances.

I would be running both of them on the Carbon Fiber or Mag armtubes not the Aluminum armtube - at least not without modding it. I see you have added wrap in your virtual system picture. I feel if you move the Delos to the CF it will return more information to you. Be interesting to find out.

But I don’t like to recommend activities that involved switching out carts, due to the risks involved in beheading them. 8^0

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Some perspective on the thread application.

Re: your modded TNT

Getting the tension right is a PITA, as I have to move the entire turntable to change it.

If I applied the thread tension that I use on my string drive turntable, to my former modded thread drive TNT, the TNT platter would barely move. It is applied loose - so loose that you can flick the thread as the record plays and not interrupt it. The string drive turntable’s pulley, and platter / bearing inertia design keep it going.

The VPI’s platter/bearing and motor pulleys being designed for belt, take some time to get it right as you say, with thread. But once dialed in I found a profound performance increase. Like the musicians were playing based on receiving some good news earlier in the day. The speed controller needed to be set much higher, but the resulting shorter and tighter bass notes improve pace and tempo and put the TNT on a par with my other tables at the time. I once tried a thread slingshot approach with the motor a few feet away. That was interesting - like kicking in a turbo. But the thread could not take the strain.

My findings
Adding belts to a string drive design is easy to do, but it degrades performance.
Adding string/thread to a belt drive design, is not as easy to do, but it improves performance.