Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Hi Slaw - here are a few suggestions for you to consider -
Wiring loom - I would untwist the wire between the arm and plinth to reduce resistance. I would also place the anchor point for the cable on the plinth at the midway point of travel, not the end.
I do not subscribe to separate pods for arms, the arm must be rigidly referenced to the bearing point. Your use of rollerballs in the TT with a separate pod would be a disaster in my view.
Use your woodwork skills on the speakers - pulling the crossovers out of the box, even without changing any components, will yield a significant improvement in resolution and lower noise floor.

Everytime I've put on either of my copies of "The Nightfly", I took it off before the 1st song was through! This was for the purpose of listening to (enjoy), and I still couldn't get past it.

Slaw - Frogman was clear in telling us that it was a digital LP but he also used some words if you go back to the post like slick or polished sounding. I agree with this.
Imo - Vinyl is a very tweakable and variable medium. How we tweak our room/gear to play vinyl is based on many factors, each us are a little different, and this influences what we do with the gear in our own room/s. Even if we had exact same gear, our rooms are all different.
For me personally the first time I played a master tape copy against the LP version (same pre/amp/speakers/room) my personal vinyl preferences became very obvious to me. They were exposed so to speak. There is no hiding behind a pretty sounding cartridge with tape. It forced me to deal with the room/gear and try to bring it to an acceptable level for myself. I have also had a few members of my daughters high school jazz ensemble in my room a few times over the last 4 years to play for me – just for a few minutes. Each time this revealed flaws in my room. The room is the most important factor, and it will never be perfect. My room is ok for my reproduced sound as I have control over it to a degree. Not for live music.

imo - There is no reason you should not be able to enjoy Nightfly. My recommendation is to play more LPs’ like Nightfly and adjust your gear/room to where it is tolerable enough and you can at least enjoy the music. Isn't that what this is about. Once you have done this I believe the other good analog sounding lps like the Shawn Colvin one will sound even better.

The 420str doesn’t sound pretty, its been said here before. Its also doesn’t cover up. So this is playing a factor too in your room. On the ET2 I find the 420str very honest in its presentation and I find the tone good compared to my tapes. Just some thoughts ...

Hoping to get Bruce’s review of it this week.

Chris: I didn't go back to review posts... from memory, my initial response to "Nightfly" being a lp we could all compare was, "it is one of the first digital recordings ever". I don't think my system is state of the art by any measure. What I'm confident of is that when ever I put any of my "Nightfly" lps on, I can't listen through a side. My system/room weakness, yes, I'm perfectly willing to accept that. Most SD lps are made with prescion, that coupled with the advent of digital recordings is a connundrum. I can only report on what my ears tell me.

Dover: Thanks for your thoughts. I know now my wire loom is not the best. My thoughts on building a new 'separate' plinth, completely discarding the VPI base all together, will be a totally different venue for a separate armpod to be introduced. I probably didn't make this clear before. (I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't clear now). (A laugh is appropriate here). I have the AN wire waiting in the wing. Awesome! I hope.

You're suggestion regarding separating the crossovers from the speakers is one I haven't thought of but I sure can see the sonic value. I'll keep it in my to do list located somewhere in my mind. While I have some thoughts on 'better' stands, your idea is probably more cost effective with better results. Thanks.

A comparison: Put on a copy of Aja,(77') then compare it to Nightfly, 82", I think you'll get where I'm coming from.
No comparison, IMO.

Dover: Your idea has my excitement level on a 10. Thanks, I will pursue this, separating the speaker crossover.