Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

bh80231

I indeed have 2 aluminum wands and yes, running LOMC’s - Ortofon Quintet Black (boron cantilever), Ortofon Quintet Mono, and an AT33PTG/II.

I have had different wraps on them in the past, and stuffed foam inside too (what is your stance on that?), but they are naked now.
I have ordered my own sheet of CF wrap though, so am going to give that a try.

bh80231
I stripped my aluminium wand of both the inside foam and also the heat shrink on the tube - at the time I was running both a low compliance Denon 103 Garrott ( boron cantilever/weinz tip ) and low to medium compliance Carnegie Model One. TT was Sota Star vacuum at that time. In both instances I got a lighter tonal balance but with more transparency. Overall I preferred the increased transparency over the slight lightening of balance.
The other mod I did was to remove the teflon insert from the headshell part of the tube and replace it with a carbon fibre insert pressed and bonded in. This was worthwhile as well.

"I have very eclectic taste including pop, country, folk, blues, but mostly jazz and almost no hard rock. Preferred listening is jazz quartets and trios and female vocals. I am a huge Keth Jarrett and Bill Evans fan. Early Miles and Coultrane. I don’t do drugs so I can’t follow their later stuff"

Hi Harry

I have a peculiar - sort of abnormal? - reaction to Jazz. It relaxes me...maybe a little too much. I tend to settle back in my chair..arms lay at rest at my sides. My right arm perilously close and within reach of whatever beverage has been placed there. I tend to get anxious when I am not doing anything, relaxing... so unless I am doing something on the computer and listening to back ground music, depending on what the beverage is ... it can get a little silly for me.

I prefer full bore orchestral...I played trombone for a number of years...not as cool as the drums, trumpet or sax..but not as bad as the tuba. I stopped playing. Anyway those influential years put my bias on the bass clef. With Orchestral Classical if a good performance, my arms/hands will start moving....waving ...in front of me. If a really good performance I stand up and continue waving my arms.

General Audiophile Tip
Make sure your wife catches you during one of these moments, she will start to worry a little bit for you; if she still cares about you...:^(
You will gain audio hobby leverage. Audiophile Points.

Anyway - breaks are needed between sides for refreshment. I also don’t and never done drugs either unless one considers alcohol a drug. Prefer natural endorphins.

Cheers Chris

Hi Chris,
This is indeed a strange hobby.  And one never knows when the most seemingly innocuous comment by a fellow audiophile will bring a breakthrough.  Such is the case with your last description of listening preferences.  I have a fair collection of classical music.  Mostly stuff an audiophile was supposed to own. Some shaded dogs, Chesky reissue shaded dogs and other audiophile "records to die for". But never much enjoyed listening to them.

After your latest post I figured I'd throw on a shaded dog.  First one was Fiedler and Boston Pops, "Fiddle Faddle."  Not exactly classical but close enough.  It was awful.  Just ear bleeding bright.  "Oh, no, am I back to the drawing board?"  Then I thought, wait a minute this is a shaded dog,  it should not sound like this.  Let's play with VTA.  Amazing!  Lyra says start with arm parallel to record and adjust from there, but with the tapered ET arm wands parallel is difficult to eyeball.

Well, I started adjusting and voilà I had been almost 5 marks too post high on the VTA gauge.  After proper adjustment all the excessive brightness and tizzyness disappeared and everything became warmer and smoother without loss of my coveted detail. Switched over to some of the records I rely on for set up an they were much improved also.   I can't believe I was so far off on VTA.
This helps explain why I had such a hard time choosing between two and three springs.

Well excuse me while I go listen to some shaded dogs.

Thanks again,
Harry.

Well I guess it's time for me to stop lurking and ask some questions. I've enjoyed my ET2 for 25 years or more and rediscovered this thread last night. I  have a SOTA nova table with cosmos armboard made for the ET2. This has metal contact points for the base tripod and works well. I recently upgraded to the aluminum base, joint and VTA display. Running two WISA pumps out of phase and getting 7psi on my pressure gauge, with two diy surge tanks in series, and a small surge tank made from a  plastic gas tank for R/C planes located very close to the arm.
This last tweak hasn't been mentioned here but I think it helps. My I-beam is from the hobby store as well (twice the usual length) and allows me to place very little weight way out the beam. (There are limits I discovered.) My manifold is the high pressure one, tried with a shop vac and pressure regulator up to 30 psi, but the quieter background wasn't worth the noise in the basement. So, I'm back to the WISA's now. My cartridge is the Lyra Kleos recently replacing a still functioning 20 y/o Audioquest 7000 NSX. Arm is the magnesium one.
I've learned a lot in catching up on this thread and really appreciate the dedication and enthusiasm of this group for the ET-2. -I thought I was the last fanatic out there.
My plan is to try the double and/or triple leaf springs, maybe go for the Alita pump and start using the regulator again. 
I would also like to try the direct wiring harness, but don't know where to look for one. Any links available?
Thanks for a great discussion and cheers,
John

Hi, John,
Welcome aboard.  You are definitely at the right place.  Like you I've owned my ET II for over 25 years.  It's hard to beat.  The guys on this thread have vast experience with our arm and are quick to give great advice that really works.  No snake oil here.   I think, however, they are ready to throw me off this thread.   I can't believe that after 40 years as a wanna-be audiophile I was so stupid as to have my VTA so far off.  (See my last post.)  I'm really embarrassed 😡

Don't know if Chris will ever forgive me.
Cheers,
Harry