Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

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.

Hi Chris.  Thanks for the feedback.  I've found that the string tension needs to be pretty loose for best performance.  As for the arm situation -  I did in fact have the Delos mounted in the Carbon arm for a good while and was getting good results.  Then I went and switched speakers and cartridges and started fiddling with other parameters and the magic disappeared.  I may be switching the Delos back to the Carbon arm, I just dread setting SRA and VTA again, as just last night things were starting to sound pretty decent again.  I've done a good bit of switching around of cartridges lately, and both the Delos and the Soundsmith have good stylus protectors.  I'm not saying it's easy or foolproof, but at least it's not a scary proposition. A great opportunity to engage in mindfulness.

Actually, when I said I dread setting VTA and SRA, I meant to say SRA and Azimuth. 

When setting up Azimuth
If I am using a tube amp/s, make sure its channel output is even. Then I set up digital first and with the speakers in near field (takes the room anomalies out) . If your main speakers can't be moved use a temporary smaller pair of speakers. Then go to the vinyl with the same material. Match it up as best as possible by ear.
I don't like the idea of using test instruments for Azimuth because, if the generator is not aligned with the stylus, you will be chasing your tail forever. Its an unknown. We can't tell if the Cart generator is lined up properly.