Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

**** ET2 Thread Yellow Sticky- VTA Block Pt.Two -How to Torque the VTA Block Bolts ****

This post also to be known as ;

"Honey, winter is coming. Do you think we need to put new tires on the car?"

Well non-ET2'ers must by now realize that you need to be a little mechanical minded with this tonearm, if a post subject is dedicated to how to torque the VTA block bolts on the ET2 ? Would you expect any less for something that is patented ?

Its now confession time for ET2 owners past and present. How many of you after seeing the gap between the manifold housing the bearing block said to yourself ... Hmmm... I better close this gap, somebody left it loose and open. If you did this, you just locked your VTA. Jammed the worm gear post up against the rack of teeth as far as it will go. If you use the VTA in this manner you will strip the rack of teeth or it will not move at all if there is still tread left on the rack of teeth.

VTA Block Gap and How to Torque the 4 VTA Block Bolts

The pic shows (left side) where the VTA Gap is and (right side) one of the VTA bolts being torqued. This is repeated for the other 3 VTA bolts. Takes only minutes to do.

Two important tips from Bruce mentioned on the earlier VTA Yellow Sticky Part One post.

1) Use the short end of the allen key. Torque is dramatically reduced.

2) Do not make adjustments to the 4 VTA Block bolts while arm is mounted. You will throw out your alignment. All adjustments should be made off table.

Also just to clarify when Bruce says .060 -.090 gap between the bearing block and the back adjacent surfaces on the manifold housing. It's in inches. The adjustment can be done by sight if you are familiar with it. A feeler gauge is shown in the picture on the right. And the gap range is a starting point as all ET2 VTA Blocks are machined individually.

The key is to be even in the torquing on the 4 bolts, and to torque so there is a nice personal firm yet smooth feel and no binding to the VTA mechanism. Some of you may notice that the gap in the picture above is well below the .060 - .090 recommended range that Bruce recommends. This one is down to .20 but it still happens to track properly and true. How can this be ? I asked Bruce to confirm some observations.

Bruce - is it a fair statement that over time the rack of teeth due to friction with the post will wear down. When the firm VTA feel starts feeling loose it should be torqued down evenly a little more, off the table. If this procedure is followed you will get many many years of use out of the VTA block ?

I believe some have been just turning the VTA bolts individually without realizing the effect on the rack of teeth, resulting in uneven wear and at some point a VTA block that goes out of alignment.

Chris

Chris,

This is correct.
- thanks -

brucet

So the rack of teeth "tread" wears down over a long period of time due to friction with the post worm gear. Maybe some new tires will be needed for the one in the picture soon.

If you want to use a gapper like the one in the pic then can be bought cheaply from the automotive parts store. The one you need will look like the top picture in this link.

Gapper

Each of the metal shims are called feeler gauges. Try to get one that goes up to .35. Also companies like Acklainds Grainger sells longer version feeler gauges.

Pull out the two or three largest ones so they are side by side. Insert them between the VTA bearing blocks and the back surface of manifold housing. Turn bolts till snug but that you can still remove the shim. Test and feel how the VTA lever works off table. If it is firm and smooth your ET2 VTA Block is now torqued evenly and ready to be attached to the Pillar Post.

Hi everyone - time sure flies by when you are having fun ?

This came into my email inbox today - it may or may not represent an ET2 opportunity based on the auction selling price, but it is interesting for a couple of reasons so I thought I would link it here.

A base low pressure ET2 - and with a Mag wand !

You can tell it is a ET 2.0 not ET 2.5 by the end cap that overlaps the spindle. You know it is probably a base and not HP model by the original pump shown.

The Good

Remember the earlier post about the VTA Block / Worm Gear relationship. This one shows the bearing gap clearly from the top pic. Any bidders are however advised to verify the "rack of teeth" condition with the seller.
All parts are almost all there including the brass rings meant for "leveling" only. The VTA lever appears missing. Again verify with the seller.
The obvious Mag and Aluminum arm wands - sweet.

The Bad

That pump can be placed at the bottom of the rack - it is that quiet and cannot be heard from 5 feet away.
The seller (well his partner - read on) indicates it is noisy so l think the pump needs replacing based on the ad's wording.

The aspiring comedian in me found some of the ad's wording ...kind of funny.

I've replaced it because my partner hates it, and has dubbed it the "user-hostile" arm. She has a point -- you have to turn the pump on (and you should have the pump muffled or in another room, because it's noisy), and the arm's a bit fiddly to cue up.

"user-hostile" - there is that military weapon reference I alluded to earlier.

Also

Still, every cartridge and table I've tried with it (within reason, don't use a high compliance cartridge with it!) sound absolutely magnificent.

Obviously not a long term owner and has not been paying attention here. The original base ET2 came out in the hey day of higher compliance MM's . I have used an ET2 with aluminum armtube very successfully with a Sonus Blue MM. 50 cms/dyne x 10 (-6). What I think might have happened here was the seller was using the higher compliance cartridges with the big FAT boy.....Mag wand.

If the seller is part of the average 5000 viewing this thread appears to be getting every day - Holy Moly ! - I hope he doesn't mind us using his ad for education, knowledge sharing, and a bit of humor. I don't think he does as he does show a sense of humor himself.

Next post will be a Yellow Sticky again - Proper ET2 Bass Management......(ATB) "According to Bruce"

It will be my humble attempt to put Thigpen's words of wisdom from his two part ET2 manual, into "one short easy to read post" for audiophiles and music lovers.

Can this be done ?

Get the bass right, the rest follows....

It's all about the bass.
-

Chris, re high compliance carts with the ET2. I agree with you that it can be used successfully with them and have done so for as long as I have owned the arm; which is almost as long as it has existed. I remember more than one comment by "reviewers" stating that the arm performed best with low compliance carts; this, even before the mag wand was even available. Then there was the review which praised the Monster AG2000 cartridge (low compliance) as THE cartridge for the arm; and idea that I heard repeated many times in NYC audiophile circles. It is, in fact, an exceptionally good combination (I own it) even with the regular aluminium wand and I think that this contributed to that mistaken idea taking hold.

And it IS all about the bass. Get the bass right and things fall into place. Now, 350 millions hits! Actually, it's a pretty catchy and cute song. Too bad that a well intended (I think) message has to be combined with the typical-for-our-time crassness. "Junk in all the right places". Now, THERE'S a nice thing to point out to one's daughter!

The big guy dancing in that "Its all about the bass" video cracks me up. He stole all my dance moves. There is more mass moving side to side with him though. Like an ET2 without the decoupled counterweight.

Frogman - I think you can do a lot with the original aluminum armtube and play heavy MC on it as well with tweaking.
Your post supports this. But then you have also wrapped your aluminum armtube. A pic of it is attached earlier in this thread.
An audiophile wrap ? Hmm this gives me an idea ...... more in a bit :^)

It is not the same imo with my 2.5 with heavy Mag wand which I use with Richard's aluminum gooseneck. My experience puts this combo solidly over the fence onto the other side with Low Compliance MC cartridges only. The combo didn't work as well with the high compliance Acutex 420 str cartridge. That same 420 that had excellent drive and rhythm with the CF armtube and regular CF gooseneck joint became cruder and harsher sounding from what I remember. Its been quite a while. It didn't last long on there. The Acutex 420 high compliance MM is still on my 2.0 and aluminum armtube in my other room. That's also the combo Bruce liked best in his review of the 420 cartridge

posted here

earlier in the thread.

Good lord its been a little over two years since that post now. 8^o

****An audiophile wrap ? Hmm this gives me an idea ...... more in a bit :^)****

Yo, yo, yo! Wassup?