Linear tracking turntables, whatever happened?

Analogluvr
The ET is a phenomenal tonearm and I can’t believe it sells for as little as it does

Bruce' pricing is consistent with his other products. he has never been part of Audiophile Markup strategies you see elsewhere. Personally I don't consider $5000 US,  without a pump cheap ? But, if it was being sold in Europe, I am pretty sure it would be selling with a 2 -3 times markup on top.

bdp24
Chris’ (ct0517) assertion that high vertical moment-of-inertia produces the best bass is to me, a user of London (Decca) cartridges, VERY interesting. That cartridge exhibits far lower vertical compliance than horizontal, which aligns well with a pickup arm exhibiting higher vertical m-o-i, no?

Bdp24

Hi Eric. Its not really my assertion. Its the way the arm was designed to run from its maker. My personal experience in running the vinyl rig alongside Master Tape Dubs (running 10 seconds behind) and switching between them helped confirm it for me. My Studer would out perform my vinyl when I first got it. Now the Studer is in need of hot rodding, if I was so inclined as my Vinyl Rig matches it or (better) as it can be tuned. This made me stop looking for tapes. I use the Studer now with the tapes I did buy as a reference point.  

Regarding cart compliances, all ET 2.0, 2.5 I beams come with either a single, double, or (triple) leaf spring to deal with different compliance cartridges. The leaf spring by design isolates the counter weights from the air bearing spindle. High compliance - single leaf spring, and so on. Most of us use the double leaf spring on our I Beams.

If my stocks were doing better 8^((( , and our dollar exchange wasn't so bad, (everyone sells in US dollars), I would maybe have some cash to look at the decca next as a cartridge.

So forget that and I will just continue to plod through my music library.

@whart
what size counterweight are you using with the Kuzma Airline currently, and where does its position lie on the rod in respect to the air bearing?
Interested in your findings.

**********

Eric - my and other owners findings confirm this; the actual assertion comes from Mr. Physics. 8^0

The Et2 owners manual is clear that it is ideal for setup to go to the highest number on the I Beam - the end of it. ET2 owners know what this implies.

Will illustrating with an analogy help ?

$1500 us is now $2000 Cdn plus customs/duties.
I don’t mean any disrespect by this, but Americans don’t seem to have an idea the plight their dollar is having on the rest of us.

Just want to second all that Chris has said re highest vertical inertia based on my experiences. As Chris may recall, early on in the history of his thread I mentioned that a few years previously I had constructed a long I beam fashioned from balsa wood. Due to the, not exactly state of the art, ways that I had figured out to attach the I beam to the bearing tube it was not a permanent tweak. However, the experiment showed me that there were sonic benefits in doing what he described; particularly in the bass. Frankly, at the time the notion of “highest vertical mass” was not what drove me to try it. It was simply something that seemed logical to try. One of the reasons that I love this arm is that it invites experimentation and I make most setup adjustments based on what I hear with the “theory” secondary. There is a symmetry to the visual impression that the arm demonstrates with the longer I beam that (not meaning to get too Zen about it) seemed natural. Maybe I just got lucky. I recently got two of Bruce’s new and longer I beams each of a different spring compliance.

Thanks for the confirmation Frogman.

Eric - I don't want you or anyone else to misunderstand my US Cdn dollar comment. So let me add something.
  
Looking at myself, I have discovered I am the type of individual, that  when a good deal appears - the cash flows - its too hard for me to resist. Good deals rarely happen so when they do - if my instinct says so - I pounce on them.
Its never been about can I afford to buy item X at the current price. It's all about - if it a smokin' deal.

With the current environment - dollar exchange - there are no deals for Canadians - IMO . Remember also Dealers like to "tack" on an extra dollar exchange value, onto products as well, above their markup.
It is what it is.
To think my main speakers and Studer were purchased from the US when the Cdn dollar was worth more than US one.  
Cheers