Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Before setting for Cart VTA.

There is 1) manifold air bearing height and 2) armwand height.
3) Then the Cart.

That’s how I have done it. When I was on that slippery slope with the turntables I must have mounted the tonearm; well you know I don’t know how many times on different tables. Different height platters and armboards. Sometimes no armboard, but separate armpods instead.
So what I do.

1) Air Bearing height
The inscribed line on the middle of the manifold is the guide for proper vertical height of the air bearing spindle. With the VTA range in the middle raise/lower post height to try to get as close to possible to having the record surface even with the inscribed line in the manifold.

2) Armwand height
If your armwand height does not allow you to mount your cart properly, raise/lower the armwand height. The stock joint (gooseneck) allows for lowering or raising the armwand to get parallel. I lost this adjustment with the Aluminum Gooseneck I got from NZ. The upgraded Aluminum Joint that Bruce sells now still retains this adjustment.

3) Cart
This should get you in the ball park with being parallel, and use the VTA to fine tune by ear. Now due to how complicated the vinyl set up is, (so many variables) , I always set up Digital first, get it working right, then I unleash the vinyl and see how close I got. This is what I have done in the past going by memory.

*************************

A couple updates.

I struck out today at the hobby shop on trying to get some kitty attracting foot long I Beams. 8^0
They looked really good on the internet link I posted but were way to thin and flimsy in person.

I also asked Bruce in the ideal situation how long should the I beam be. He told me shorter than a foot and as close as possible to the length of the armwand. This supports the teeter totter analogy I used earlier. I told him to consider doing a run on the longer I Beams as they are fairly inexpensive even with our Canadian dollar :^( and that there would probably be people interested when they found out.

Hi Pegasus

I’m not exactly shure what this would mean? More upfront placement = faster bass?

No not faster but bass that when you hear it, is not bass that has bounced off your room walls - God only knows how many times (being sarcastic) before it finally reaches the listeners ears.

So in reading further into your post. you said.

But I agree, that close-field placement is the preferable "error", because a) the excursion / level of the subwoofer can be considerably lower, b) the decrease of room reverberation level relative to the direct sound level should reduce audible room resonances & bass colorations = c) the modification of the subs frequency response by room resonances drops an order of magnitude.

Yes - and all of these benefits include the sub lasting longer ! You know I consider subs disposable items. When they fail - good luck getting the amp and electronics out of the good ones as it has to be glued in there good with all the vibrations. In fact I won't say which manufacturer, but a very well respected one - told a friend when his failed "we can't repair" but,  "we will sell you a new one" 8^0 .

All it takes is one 22 year old blasting XXXXX music over a period of time - that sub will indeed fail sooner. Let me know if you wanna hear some funny stories about my 22 year old male with his two JL Audio subs under the back bench seat of his Honda Ridgeline ? his truck has 350,000 kilometers. Still no rattles.

Thanks for the advice, Chris
Unfortunately, I have the aluminum joint as well, and it is missing the top mounting hole, making it impossible to get the manifold on plane with the platter and the tonearm level at the same time. I.E. I have to mount the manifold higher to get even close to a level wand. It's just not a perfect tonearm from that standpoint. 
One size doesn't fit all cartridges. I really wish the aluminum joint had the third mounting hole at the top, but I'm not willing to drill and tap it. Then again there's a machine shop up the street.....
John

John, didn’t know the top hole was missing on the new aluminum joint.
Did Bruce explain why ?
so I got curious and lined up my previous CF joint which was set on the top hole with my aluminum joint
from NZ. they are the same by eyeballing. So it was made with the top hole dimension.