Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Thanks for that, Chris.
I got it pretty close. I listened tonight and got blown away by the bass and most everything else.
I'm a happy camper at present. It's set up properly, and I probably wasn't careful and patient enough with that in the past. I'm not sure I want to mess with it any more. I'll probably stick with the WISA pumps and 7psi, and not screw with the wire loom. I'm using the very thin copper litz wire that Bruce rewired my spindle with. It's set up with very little effect on the balance of the arm.
The ET-2 is a finicky thing, sometimes a PIA, and I understand why some people can't deal with it and write it off immediately.
I guess the people in this discussion understand what a piece of high tech it is, and how rewarding it is to get it right. 
-John

Hello all,
With further fine tuning I'm running into the same VTA issue with the new mag arm wand.  I have the original goose neck.  I can get the Delos level only using the top hole in the goose neck with the manifold at its highest and VTA almost all the way up.  This puts the scribe line on the manifold significantly above the record surface.  Works fine for normal LP's but I'm pushing the limit on a 180 gm.  Haven't tried a 200 gm yet.  Studying Bruce's manual it seems the only solution is a thicker arm board.   Maybe adding the aluminum base would work.

John, if memory serves you have a Lyra cartridge. I'm guessing it is the same geometry as my Delos.  Maybe a cartridge that is not as tall would work but that's an awfully expensive fix.
Harry.

Hey Harry,
I wish that I could help more but I'm not that familiar with the VPI tables. In my case, I have the scribe line on the manifold just .5 cm above the platter. I think that this might be close enough. I think you should first put the VTA adjustment in the center of its range. Then adjust the attachment of the manifold to the base to put the scribed line even with the platter or close. At that point, if the arm and top of the cartridge are not parallel to the platter, I would raise or lower the manifold attachment to the base. I think that this step is least critical. 
You want the arm and cartridge to be parallel to the platter or record surface with some adjustment left on the VTA adjustment. You don't want the adjustment all the way up or down. 
If your armboard is wooden, you could add height with a matching piece of stock of suitable thickness. If it's metal, which is better, get a metal piece of suitable thickness cut and attach it with screws.
I'll bet that Bruce has an answer for you. He's pretty quick to answer emails.
These arms can really be a PIA as I said but don't give up on the Lyra cartridge. You can work it out.
Good luck,
John 

Hi Harry -see if this helps

Find your thickest and thinnest records that represent extremes. Leave armwand in the top hole of the joint. Since your VTA is already at the high point, leave it there and use the thickest record sample first. Adjust the post height so the Air Bearing Manifold scribed line is in line with the thick record. Adjust cart.

Then put on the thinnest record. You now have the full VTA travel to adjust for it. Does that help ?

This can be done in reverse with the thinnest record and VTA set at the low point.

Note: if you need some extra overall height an easy thing to do is to swap out the 3 leveling spikes (grub screws) on the mounting base for longer ones. Also - The aluminum base is much heaver than the CF, very solid, no way of cracking it, but has the same dimensions.

Chris

Harry, I don’t know if you have the thicker arm board that VPI made for the HW19 Mark IV to address the very issue you are having. If you don’t, they may be able to make one up for you. When I purchased the thicker platter for my HW19 years ago and before I got the thicker acrylic armboard my solution to the problem was to put washers between the metal subchassis and the underside of the regular armboard (or thicker one, if that is what you have and you still need more height) with the bolts going through them to raise the arm board to the desired height. Good luck.