Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

@slaw 
I said in the previous posts I am open to interrupting my current vinyl routine, and put a London on, if, someone sent me one. I know, it would involve venturing to the dark side - Audiophile mode again. 8^0
How many records does the serious audiophile keep in rotation at one time? Any thoughts? Where equipment "sound" takes priority over the music itself.

Cartridges are like car tires. I have found that there are people who spend more research time on buying replacement tires for that special car, than the time they spent buying the actual car! If a person has money to burn it's another story.

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@pegasus 

Unfortunately for the ET 2.0 and 2.5 owners there has never been a competent "audio magazine" review, that demonstrated the 3 dimensional aspects of ET 2 setup. Being introduced same time as CD might have had an effect.  I will re-iterate, if someone can find a good review that goes into depth and shows an understanding of the Armwand, I Beam Setup and Leaf Springs.... show the review to me.

So, when we are researching items like cartridges, forum member contributions, carry more weight for me if the person owns the same gear.

The way I see it - Frogman and yourself struggled with different versions of this Cartridge. Frogman's London cart is the older 3 pin model.

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Research from Audio Magazine Reviews. 

Pegasus
In the comments about arm matching, Art got the resonance frequencies of the Abis SA1 the wrong way: The horizontal is in his test about an octave lower (centered around 6Hz) vs. vertical (around 12 Hz), not the opposite way round.

Audio magazine reviews usually contain comment sections - was this mentioned ?

Pegusus - In one of the better german magazines there was a test of the London Studio which is similar to the Maroon, but using a front and back tie-back thread, instead of only one pulling back. The review sounded somehow surprised by the (even better than expected) sound quality, which Intrigued me. - Is this possibly the best sounding London, at least of the "basic" ones?

Any comments from Eric or other London owners ?

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Some of my research.

Martim Colloms and Michael Fremer both had similar experiences to Frogman and Pegasus in Stereophile on the Jubilee and Reference

https://www.stereophile.com/content/london-decca-jubileereference-phono-cartridge

Martin Colloms re:Jubilee

Good, well-modulated recordings contain peak amplitudes that are beyond the compass of Deccas—even the Jubilee. The cartridge sounded pretty wonderful until it failed to track, when all hell broke loose. It doesn't mistrack in a subtle manner—you know immediately from the edgy, ringing rattles it produces that something is wrong. Nothing I could do with respect to setup or ancillary components did much to push the trackability envelope.
However, this is also a significantly flawed cartridge. This may not prove fatal—it just depends on the demands you plan to make on it, and the care you can lavish on both system-matching and alignment. As in the old nursery rhyme, when it's good, the Jubilee is very, very good; but when it's wrong, it can be horrid.

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^^^
(The last sentence mirrors what can happen with a Linear tracker setup - LOL. If a good setup - good all the way through, (not just at two points like a pivot arm). But if it's off. It's going to be off all the way through.)

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Michael Fremer - London Reference) ( should mention I stopped reading Fremer reviews years ago when he reviewed a product (Linear tracker) - found it better, heard the differences, but decided it was not worth the added effort. He got "old" for me from that point forward. His review happened to be lumped together with Colloms by Stereophile, in the same link above.)   

Michael Fremer

You have never heard a snare drum or cymbal retrieved from a vinyl groove until you've heard what the London does. When tracking correctly, its transient delivery was nothing short of astonishing—by a laughable margin, the most realistic I've ever heard. The entire drum kit, in fact, from the kick drum up, left my mouth agape. The same with voices, which were delivered with a coherence—a wholeness—that was scary with the lights out. Rhythmically, dynamically, and, to a lesser degree, spatially, the London Reference is in a league of its own. It speaks with a single voice of authority as has no other cartridge in my experience.

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So good comments so far .........if I was a drummer like Eric - .......8^0
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Fremer comments continued.

But not everything fared as well; in terms of both music and noise, it was difficult to predict what I was going to hear when I dropped the stylus in a groove. Some records that are silent when tracked by the Lyra Titan were full of pops, ticks, and other garbage through the London.
Some think the London tears through vinyl, but after playing some discs repeatedly, I didn't find that to be the case. Setup, however, is critical—the utter lack of "wiggle room" is made more of a challenge because you can barely see the stylus tucked underneath the body, and there's no cantilever with which to reference the zenith angle. And the London horribly mistracked some records and had difficulty with sibilants on others.
Would I make the London Reference my primary cartridge? No—its performance is too unpredictable. Would I recommend it for use as an auxiliary cartridge on a second tonearm? If you can drop $4495 and not worry and you play lots of jazz and rock, don't hesitate—you'll get your money's worth with every play, and you'll play it more often than not. There's a mono configuration available, and as a mono cartridge—its original purpose in life—it must be stunning.—Michael Fremer

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my comments now.

sounding like an audiophile cartridge to me ? ?
You know ? the one you use with just those records.
I am not looking for another audiophile cartridge.

So I ask do any versions of this cartridge do well with large scale orchestral music?

Seems the London Reference is the one, the pricey one with the aluminum body. My Verdier platter is all aluminum. It was made from a billet of aluminum. I am assuming an aluminum sheet used to shape the Reference body ? I have worked with Aluminum it bends and shapes fairly easy. The market prices are what they are however ........
That's where I am at.
sorry for the long post.

Thanks Chris - pretty sums it up.
- Why London?
I recorded my brothers "world music" LP collection from the 70’s end of 70s to ca. 1980. Garrard SB 100 Decca Grey cartridge, top "high end" Pioneer receiver :-), recorded to a portable JVC pro cassette recorder.
After 40 years, these recordings still have this abundant energy, are fun to listen (and in some high level upper range passages sound a bit "relentless", diplomatically speaking.)
But: Unforgettable.
- safe bet for problems: High quality low friction arm with high lateral mass, as I experienced.
- *thinkable* solutions: Such arms with damping (a bit vertical, more of it horizontal) - I’d try London in an ET2 with a good amount of damping.
- Or, known working solutions: Unipivots, like Aro etc. with a moderate amount of damping, and the Well Tempered arms.

Chris, 

Thank you for all of the excellent information. I understand where you're coming from. I really didn't think that you'd take my posts that seriously, it was meant to be somewhat humorous, yet I was hoping anyone reading might share their experience with a London on either table/or arm I mentioned.

I think that Chris is the perfect candidate for a London Decca Reference mounted on one of his ET’s.  He understands the arm like few do and has the mindset and discipline to get the most out of the combination.  There was something about one of his posts that gave me the feeling that he is intrigued 🤔 

Frogman - appreciate the comments but we are all a bunch of audio crazies. There are worse things that we can be I guess 8^0
I have never seen a wire loom like yours. as posted on this thread previously.

Frogmans ET 2 setup.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/P3at6pmSPGeFFABZ6

Nothing but audio passion makes that as far as I am concerned.

There was something about one of his posts that gave me the feeling that he is intrigued

For some reason I can’t get the memories of racing Go Carts out of my head, when l think of this London cartridge. There were some tremendous crashes into - most of the time a stack of rubber tires. But in between those crashes, it was an exhilarating ride.

As far as the London on the ET. Someone send me one and I can put it on the ET 2.0 HP in room B. that is using an Sp10 MKII with Acutex 420str.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/82pfNoQgwND5yhtz9

The SP10 is in a minimal plinth held up by stainless steel columns which bolt into the base. The ET 2.0 HP model version is on a circular armpod that was cut from billet of brass. One screw on top for the ET2 and three holes on the bottom for the spikes or bolt directly into the base from underneath. The whole thing rests on a Audio Technica AT616 footers.

The intent of this design from many years ago, was not to look pretty, but to eliminate Direct Drive motor and other vibrations. Build it and they will come ?

Comes to mind now. .
I have found that the long I beam - and single leaf spring if tightened just short of snug, provides action that is excellent damping with out of round records. That might work well with a London cart but obviously speculating now.
^
I realize that what this last paragraph is saying probably flies in the face of the person that "targets snug", but this tonearm is unique, and it "flies in the face" of all other tonearms anyway.