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Vinyl experts, I need your advice. TNT6, ETII,Benz

O.K. Here's the deal. I've been listening to vinyl for a long time on a VPIHW19jr. fitted with an ETII tonearm. Recently I upgraded to a somewhat lessend version of a VPI TNT 6. This is basically the new TNT jr. with the dual motor cutout but using a single motor and a TNT 6 platter and bearing. No air suspension, just the sorbothane units.
For my little pocketbook, this upgrade was substantial and I hope to eventually upgrade to a full "6" status. Here's the kicker, although the table sounds MUCH better than my old HW19jr, I still get a fair bit of what I believe to be distortion generally more towards the end of the record. I should add that I kept the ETII arm and a Benz Gold cart. I can't tell whether this is from record wear, mistracking or it is just a phenomenom of records. Some records are worse than others, some are what I would call unlistenable. When my wife listens to her Strisand records or other female artists I generally leave the room because when the going gets rough it gets unlistenable. Loud passages or higher pitched singing can be unbearable. I love Rickie Lee Jones and find that it is so much more pleasant on my Jolida CD player. THIS JUST WON'T DO! I have heard records sound great but there is always an uneasiness as I wait for that loud passage.
I have also heard this on better systems which makes a little apprehensive about vinyl playback anymore, and this is a shame because when it's good...it's real good.
If anyone has any ideas on where I should be looking to improve my playback please remark.
alun
rgordonpf
82 posts
 
The easiest way to clean the capillaries is to disconnect the air line from the bottom of the manifold, squirt 2 cc of isopropyl alcohol in the air line, reconnect the air line and turn on the air pump. The alcohol will be forced thru the capillaries. Move the arm slowly back and forth and you will feel it gradually loosen up at the end of its travel. Putting paper towels at both ends of the manifold to catch the drip is not a bad idea. Doing this every six months kept my arm moving freely. If I didn't do it regularly the arm would get stuck in the groove and skip at the end of LPs.

One of the joys of having a linear tracking arm is no inner groove distortion.
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Frogman, thanks. That's what I would expect. Interesting that in 15 years of use, I never experienced this with my ETII.

Rgordonpf, thanks for the follow-up with the cleaning recommendation. A friend now uses my old ETII and I'll make sure he knows your cleaning process. This might be the solution to some end of LP skipping he's been experiencing with it.
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alun OP
181 posts
 
Wow, thanks for all the help. The arm seems to move in both directions freely, however I have never cleaned the capilleries so I'll give that a try. I'lll also double check the tracking force although I think it is o.k. as I just recently set this rig up and it was good then.
Cartridge may be an issue and I would love to upgrade it to either a blackbird, or maybe a celebration as I can't really afford at this time anything too esoteric.
I was once told that the dampning trough from ET was a good upgrade, any thoughts?
Again, I have heard this on other systems which could mean record wear. Yeouch!!! I'm hoping to take a few records down to my favorite shop and try them out on a HRX,12.5,Ebony setup and check the results!
Thanks again for your advice, I'll be sure to follow up.
Alun
rgordonpf
82 posts
 
I started with a standard ET II and upgraded it step by step to a fully modded ET 2.5. All of the changes were worthwhile. The biggest bang for the buck in descending order:
DIY Air Pressure Regulator
2.5 Larger Diameter High Pressure Manifold
Magnesium arm wand
Damper Trough
Bright Star Padded Cell (to silence the air pump
if it has to be in the listening room)
alun OP
181 posts
 
Yes, I've read about some of those upgrades, but I'm not sure if the HP Manifold is still available.
Ive been researching some cartridge upgrades, but for now I'm hoping to just retip the Benz Gold and upgrade later. I hear so much about the Shelter cartridges but it's hard not to use the Benz trade in program.
Thanks, I'll let you know how the manifold cleaning works out.
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