****Are we to take your words literally ? The cartridge is about 7 inches from the spindle ? Have you come up with ET 3.0, a longer I beam that I have only been thinking about, or are you talking about removing enough lead and having your weights positioned at number 6 on the I beam ? ****
I have constructed an I beam (balsa wood) that uses a leaf spring from one of the regular ET I beams which allows me to to move the counterweights up to 6 inches from the spindle; although not the 7 inches that I implied. With my cartridges which are either medium compliance Vandenhuls or high compliance MM's, the improvement in bass weight
and detail is significant. One other way to experiment with moving the weight further from the spindle is by using the threaded brass weights on the threaded rod that secures the regular lead weights to the counterweight holder. This allows the weight to be further back, and effectively "extending" the I beam.
Speaking of the I beams, no one has mentioned the importance of experimenting with leaf springs of different compliances. I have three ET (plastic) I beams, each of a different compliance. The lower the
compliance the more tightly focused the sound is. Higher compliance springs make the sound a little "bloomier", with an all around easier
presentation.
The use of the higher pressure manifold and Medo compressor was a revelation for me. The improvements were very significant, but I found
that in my system higher than 17 psi was too much of a good thing. 17 psi gave me the desired tonal balance. More than that and the sound was too tightly controlled for my tastes.
I have constructed an I beam (balsa wood) that uses a leaf spring from one of the regular ET I beams which allows me to to move the counterweights up to 6 inches from the spindle; although not the 7 inches that I implied. With my cartridges which are either medium compliance Vandenhuls or high compliance MM's, the improvement in bass weight
and detail is significant. One other way to experiment with moving the weight further from the spindle is by using the threaded brass weights on the threaded rod that secures the regular lead weights to the counterweight holder. This allows the weight to be further back, and effectively "extending" the I beam.
Speaking of the I beams, no one has mentioned the importance of experimenting with leaf springs of different compliances. I have three ET (plastic) I beams, each of a different compliance. The lower the
compliance the more tightly focused the sound is. Higher compliance springs make the sound a little "bloomier", with an all around easier
presentation.
The use of the higher pressure manifold and Medo compressor was a revelation for me. The improvements were very significant, but I found
that in my system higher than 17 psi was too much of a good thing. 17 psi gave me the desired tonal balance. More than that and the sound was too tightly controlled for my tastes.