Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

@ct0517 Agreed Chris - when you build/modify your own DIY equipment, it is personal and relinquishing that equipment is harder. I essentially reached the end of my stereo DIY building...as well as reached the end of working on muscle cars 12 years ago. I am almost done running my final ham radio antenna experiments.

I think the key is knowing you can always do more upgrades, builds and experiments, but you have to determine the point at which "you" want to stop; more so if you are still curious about orthogonal areas that require learning something completely new - which takes time to be competent. You end up trading off time and where you want to spend it...tradeoffs.

I sold off all my automotive tools and parts (engine crane, ignition analyzers, pullers, carbs, cams, etc) for restoration work. That first "release" was hard to let go. I subsequently sold off my duplicate voltmeters, oscilloscopes, signal generators for DIY stereo and ham radio builds (just kept one scope, one volt ohm and one Weller soldering workstation for future repairs). Selling off this gear / parts was much easier after letting go of my automotive gear and parts. I recently sold off my duplicate stereo gear (no second room gear or backup gear or parts...except spare vacuum tubes) - no sentiment experienced.

I will probably continue practicing piano and playing recitals for another 10 to 15 years and call that quits. Maybe I will pickup painting...

I am looking for help.  So thanks for taking the time to read.

I am trying to get my 30 yr old Oracle / ET arm working again.  The first thing I did was take the table to the local Audio store.  They took a look at it and did not give me confidence that it was worth fixing.  Somewhere between transporting the table to the store and taking it back the swing of the tone arm has been significantly lowered.  The link below are pictures of the ET
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bbQALFNotPbF9Jec8
You can see that the two positions of the tone are are well below the platter.  It was not like that before.  My guess is that the support that holds the cueing lever in place slipped down.  But I do not see any indication of that happening.
I know that this is a sensitive installation, it was working fine 20 years ago and I don't want to cause any additional problems.
Also any thoughts on the best way to start up using again.  I have replaced the large filter that was inline and the aquarium like pump seems to be operational.  I did a basic cleaning of the arm and started up the pump to see if all was working.  It seemed to go smooth.  But I have not tested it on a record.  I may have real issues with the Oracle motor.

Thanks - Dave

If I understand your issue correctly it looks as if the cueing support has been turned which causes the armwand to rest lower at the cartridge end. Some of your pictures show that support in a different position. Just turn it until you obtained your desired resting position.

check the vta lever.  It's probably too low.

I would read through the ET manual to get re-acquainted with the setup and maintenance again. Page 25 of the manual shows how you can adjust the cuing mechanism.  It almost looks like your cuing got reversed:  lever up -> cartridge down.  ET website has a link to download PDF manual if you don't still have it.