Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

The Magic is back!  As mentioned, after playing with VTA everything was sounding very nice last night.  This morning I followed Chris' diagram and reset the space between the VTA block and manifold housing with the .020 in. feeler gauge, reset VTA, leveling and checked tangential tracking.  As soon as the I dropped the needle back in the groove the improvement just jumped out at me.  Transparency was back in spades.  All of the subtle inner detail that makes analog so enticing had returned; like Clapton's finger plucks on "Unplugged", Carol Kidd's breath and the air across Ben Webster's sax reed.  I'm still trying to visualize how the small amount of tinkering I had done to those two top VTA block bolts could have thrown the arm so far out of whack.  But it certainly did.  Thank you, Chris.

And shame on me Frogman for suggesting that raising the armboard on the washers could possibly have contributed to my problems.  Not the case at all. This fix just gave me back VTA adjustment range with no negative side effects I can detect.

Now that I'm done with taking steps backward I can report my observations on the magnesium arm wand.  If I were to reduce my impressions to a single word it would be "control".  It is as if the arm grabs hold of the LP and says "gotcha".  Things firm up, leading edges become more defined, and the space occupied by individual instruments become more defined. This was an improvement well worth the cost.

John, 
My understanding of the bolts in the VTA block is that the top two attach the block to the manifold housing and the bottom two and only the bottom two should be used to adjust stiffness. The top two should be set to where there is a .020 in. gap between the block and the manifold housing and never touched again (see photo and diagram on Chris' virtual system page). You should not try to tweak the top two bolts as I did.  After setting the top gap to .020 in. you can play with the bottom two screws to adjust stiffness if needed.  Listen to me talking like the expert after I screwed this up on my arm and needed Chris to get me straightened out.  :)  I'm sure Chris will correct me if this explanation is not correct.

Happy listening to all,
Harry

Hey Harry,
Your explanation is very helpful. I'm not sure I have an issue with this as I've never messed with the top two bolts out of fear. The manual just says to adjust the bottom two. However, as I see that pic from Chris, the gap gauge he is using says .02 mm, and not inches. Am I reading it wrong with my bad eyes, or did you make a mistake on that info? That's a considerable difference! -smiles.
John 

Hey John.  
Actually, there are two numbers on Chris' feeler gauge, .020 followed by .508 mm which is the metric equivalent of .020 in.  It is very hard to read from the picture but it is the same as the feeler gauge I have.  I don't know if you bought your ET II new but if you are sure nobody has played with the top two bolts on the VTA block, you probably still have the factory setting and are good to go.
Harry

Thanks Harry,
I still think you should get an aluminum base. It's much more rigid and Bruce will cut you a good deal. After I got mine, it took me six mos to change it out, because you almost have to start from scratch, setting the arm back up. I didn't want to do the work at the time.
Cheers,
John 

Beautiful day been working on the Boat . Check out this picture showing the internals of a destroyed ET2 VTA block. See Bruce’ patented design.

Destroyed VTA Block

For a full picture of damage inflicted by this audiophile, see Pic 33 on my virtual system.

The problem with the one in this pic. The VTA bolts were closed, jamming the aluminum roller to the track. You can see how the aluminum roller caused a bald spot in the track. This VTA block will slip on that section and is no longer any good. The VTA blocks are all made on an individual basis with their specific manifold. For this reason Bruce can’t just send you another VTA Block if it has been destroyed.

So, when buying a used ET2 - this is the part, the VTA block, that you need to verify is in good shape because you can’t see it. Ask the seller to measure the gaps for you. If they are factory settings as discussed here, it’s a good sign it was not messed with like Harry said

Bolts uneven in gap, along with causing the VTA to not be accurate, will also put uneven pressure on the track and WILL wear the teeth out unevenly that the aluminum roller tracks. I keep all the 4 bolts the same in gap. open the gap more for less firmness  but keep the gap the same on the 4 bolts.

Harry - glad your magic is back. You have a lot of audio passion sir !