Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

The weekends... I got it!
I have around 21 hours on the Acutex. Still loving it. I'm becoming one with this transducer and therefore am more aware of what's going on now, that it's becoming of age.
Starting to get slightly annoying in the mid to upper, mid-range. Not really any other issue, well, a little sibilance.
I know exactly what's going on , because I've experienced it in my system and other's, with different cartridges.
If you look back at my intitial posts, you'll see that one of two caveats I mentioned in setting this cartridge up with my current wire loom was not having the center spindle height close to the lp surface. This, as explained in the manual, is very important. I know from personal experience that this will cause the very issue I'm currently experiencing with the Acutex. Annoying in the mid to upper, mid-range, also it can result in splashy treble. Fixing my cartridge clips so I can ultimately lower the armwand assembly at the same time as acheiving top of cartridge being parallel with lp, will absolutely take care of this issue.

Remember this turntable link I posted a little while back.

Nakamichi ET 2.5

Well its up for sale :^)

Just having my morning coffee and I came across it. No affiliation with this at all. Just thought it was kinda cool to come cross it.

The seller has no feedback, AND it's Audiogon. Also, altho it's a rare collectible and there is no real market value, the asking price is about 2X recent sales prices for this item of which I am aware.

Last one I saw sold for US$2500 on Ebay only a few months ago, cant remember what arm it had on it. So the thing is worth about $5-6k, plus some premium for condition. Based on the sellers perception of value maybe I should offer him my Final Audio for $20k plus the Nakamichi. I think the CT would be better.

412 versus 420 on a ET 2.0 HP with a triple leaf spring.
Initial impressions.
The numbers from the printed manual.

412 /// 420
20 – 35khz /// 20 -45khz - Freq response
30 db at 1 khz /// 33db at 1khz Channel Separation
27db at 10khz /// 29db at 10khz
3.5 mv at 1 khz /// 3.2mV at 1khz Output voltage
STR /// Perfect STR Stylus
24 x 10(-6) /// 42 x 10(-6) Compliance
1.3 – 2.1g /// 1.0 – 2.0 Tracking Force

Compared to the Grey 420 the stoplight 412 looks like a model plane fighter engine/machine gun that is actually firing. Guaranteed to attract a little toddler if nearby for those with little kids around.

Again sounds pretty ridiculous for the price. How much do you guys think these things actually cost to make anyway? I am curious.

IMO - Its lacking that natural gusto aggressiveness and extension that its bigger brother the 420 has, that is also present on master tape dubs. Much more polite sounding especially in the very low bass – much like the Empire 4000 DIII.
Hardly any hours but it has too much happening (emphasis) in the midrange and upper bass for me to get comfortable with it on my modded Quad 57’s. Too much of good thing ? Very early but I am pulling up anchor and will try it somewhere else later.

A question for the cartridge experts. I would appreciate your expertise here.

What is the difference between STR and Perfect STR.

Specifically - How much bearing does this STR vs Perfect STR have on precise alignment and geometry of a tonearm ? I am curious.

My understanding is that the 420 has a very small footprint. Does that mean it requires more precision in alignment. I say this from my personal experience in trying to get it right on a couple of pivot arms previous to the ET2.