Another point of possible resonance, to me.... As I've mentioned, I'm thinking of working on my current wire loom and will be building a new one also. The choice of cartridge clips is one of my concerns. I know that the Cardas are widely used and very economical. From my experience with these, they are so delicate that I have to wonder how much resonance they impart, especially after being unhooked from time to time. When I see a close up view of them, I cringe! I know in using the Acutex with it's angled pins, that I need something different from my current clips. The Vanden Hul look very promising. They seem to be made sturdier with an internal triangle shape that would grab the cart pins more securely (at three points) while the cable end still having the flexibility to slightly bend outwardly if necessary to allow enough wiggle room to mount the Acutex on the ET.
Any thoughts? |
To anyone that has or is using the ET with a VPI acrylic armboard... Have you tried using it with and without the aluminum spacer that ET provides? If so, what were your impressions?
I personally have only tried it with the spacer, but now wonder if this could be a source of unwanted resonance using the acrylic armboard? |
Chris: I think I see what you are saying. For clarification, I have two wall shelves, one supporting the motor and the other supporting the tt, phono stage and SDS. These are both connected to the same wall which has a huge effect on the sound, I agree. I tried to touch on this in my virtual system page. I do believe that it is a huge factor on how the system as a whole performs. I actually have plans for one day to 'rebuild this wall' to my specs. Thanks for reminding me of this, lol. Hope you enjoy the S Covlin. I got the 12" 45rpm maxi single recently. Sounds great! |
Dear Chris, First of all thanks to remind me about the 'Moldovian plinth' for my SP 10. I totally fotget the thing. I use the original SH 10 B4 plinth with a very solid arm-base which is made from acryl layers gluead together in a shop where they produce name plates with addresses, etc. They use a laser for the purpose so my armbase is cut more precise than any cabinet maker can do.
Regarding your 'base' philosophy. Not to get involved in infinite regress or adding up of meanings, we all are moving at about 700 miles an hour, carried by the diurnal
rotation of our 'mother earth'. For your 'basic base' there is no futher reduction possible. But 'it' moves as Galilei persisted on and got in trouble with the 'mother church'.
As there are those who want to nail the meanings of words to some dictionary to get the correct use of language for all times (the English theachers ?) there are some others who want to nail everything around their TT's in order to sleep well: I deed everything I could think of so my conscience is pure. But alas the 'base of all bases' is still moving.
Btw I was somehow very fond of my own idea to use Lew's argument for the 'plinth' for my possible wheelchair. He is of course immens proud of his slate plinths. And because 'plinth=base' there is no better base for whatever TT than the slate kind. It should be counted as the real estate because of the weight and value.
Regards,
|
Nikola I have to confess I wanted to say Nude cartridge on the Nudie thread but I thought I would be chastised so I said it here. :^( Some like to encase their whole TT system “in” a single base structure. Bring them all together so to speak in one base and therefore plinth. All entry level TT’s start life this way from what I have seen? Appears to be cost effective? We can use your Moldavian plinth holding your SP10 and tonearm/cartridge as an example of this. It is a true base and plinth (IMO) as it holds all the TT pieces on one base. Now others like to take the TT system pieces apart and see what happens. Motors separated and or the Tonearm on an armpod. On your Kuzma turntable, the plinth is the TT system plinth when you are using whichever tonearm is attached directly to it. However when you use your Kuzma TT with the tonearm that is attached to your armpod the TT “system” base/plinth is not the Kuzma plinth anymore – it is the surface they both rest on. Just my opinion. Why don’t you start a thread Nikola – How do you define a Plinth ? if you dare. However he also postulated 'the qualitative difference between a real plinth ' and those 'illegitimate footers'. But because my 'philosophical' opinion is that the meaning of words depend on the context in which thy are used I mentioned my legs as footers and postulated the opposite. That they are an 'legitimate' base for my nacked or dressed body. Those "illegitimate" footers that you and Lew are referring to (I experimented with as well in this fashion in the past) under a DD or idler only account for the bearing, motor, spindle, platter. This then requires a tonearm/cartridge off on its own somewhere on an armpod. The common base where these “footers” and armpod spikes meet - is the common base and TT system plinth- imo. There is no confusion here for me. This is very clear. Your own body footers (legs) support your your “whole body system”. |
Dear Chris, One may think 'one thread is not the other'
but I got not only 'philosophycal' but also psychological
(involving Freud) disagreement with Lew in the 'nude turntable project'. He persisted in his claim that 'plinth=base' because of the English dictionary (aka
synonym). I as a foreigner was obviously not aware of this 'fact'. That is to say that 'plinth' means the same as 'base'. Aka 'identity relationship' between meanings(??) However he also postulated 'the qualitative difference between a real plinth ' and those 'illegitimate footers'. But because my 'philosophical' opinion is that the meaning of
words depend on the context in which thy are used I mentioned my legs as footers and postulated the opposite. That they are an 'legitimate' base for my nacked or dressed body. However I also mentioned the possibility that in some future time I may need a 'plinth' like an wheel-chair. This I would think will mean some 'qualitative difference' with the previous state of affair but in the opposite 'direction' than assumed by Lew. This interesting (?) discussion was alas ended because of the irritation by some other member: no philosophycal BS in public please ; mail each other if you need.
Regards, |
Interesting Chris....as I have also found the 420STR to act much like a LOMC on my Victor DD in its susceptibility to 'feedback' when the volume is turned up?
This despite the fact that the phono stage gain is set to the low MM value which, incidentally displays no such 'feedback' with 'normal' MMs?
Do you have any thoughts on why this should be the case with the 420STR? From the nude thread Perhaps the fact that the 420STR is like a giant antenna (according to Chris and the Professor Timeltel). Hi Henry – I gave this some more thought. I prefer to label the 420str as a “Nude” cartridge – I thought u would like this name? The 420str has very little “clothing” so why not call it nude. Its not damped and protected to the nine’s like other cartridges so it needs an arm that can pass thru or eliminate resonances really well. If you have any issues with your turntable setup, it will tell you like no other cartridge so far for me. This can be good or bad depending on your perspective. On a belt or thread drive TT where there is excellent motor isolation, this cartridge has had no issues for me whatsoever. It did however require me to lock things down better on the idler and dd tables, thus its value to me for more than just the sound, but as a test cartridge. I believe that most of the favorable impressions of the 420str here, were with belt / thread drive users ? Is this not so ? I look forward to your impressions of it Henry - on your Belt drive Raven when u get your phono stage up and running. As an update the 420str arrived safely and is with BT. Slaw – I found a Shawn Colvin - Steady On - LP. :^) |
Slaw
The plinth in my TT is 'the' platform you speak of. The armboard is connected to this 'plinth', (and becomes part of it) that supports the platter and bearing. Here is some food for thought. I have found when comparing and listening to how the vibrations and resonances in this hobby affect the different sounds we get; that identifying “ground zero” aka the common base/plinth for all components in a turntable system (bearing/platter/spindle/motor/tonearm-cartridge) was important for me. Slaw – in your system pic - your motor/enclosure is not attached, or even on the same base as your VPI plinth - what this means to me ... Your VPI plinth is the plinth/base for only the platter/spindle/bearing and tonearm/cartridge. Your wall shelf is the plinth/base for the actual motor. Being a vibration/resonance hobby everything has an effect on your overall sound that we are getting so …. What is the overall turntable “system” common base/plinth that the overall sound is actually based on ? IMO 1) If all of your turntable parts were on one wall shelf your actual overall turntable system plinth would be that shelf. 2) If all of it was on two separate wall shelves then “The Wall” itself becomes the common base/plinth. 3) Still further based on your photo – if the motor is on the wall shelf and the remaining turntable parts on a floor rack - as it appears in your photo? , then both wall and floor factor in as a shared base/plinth for the turntable system, and how resonances and vibrations will affect the sound. Thoughts ? No more coffee for me this morning ... |
Chris: I think I oversimplified my response to this now, I appologize.
Dgarretson: I looked again at your "egg beater" wire loom. Very interesting and "smart" execution. Question, Do the two 'outer strands' of your egg beater design, need to be slightly longer to acheive proper "force vector"? If so, does this have an effect on your balanced cable design? |
Chris: I am referring to 'plinth' as does VPI when describing their tt designs, and as far as I know, most TT manufacturerers do. I have to say, the wiki link you provided seems to confirm the intent I initially meant. The plinth in my TT is 'the' platform you speak of. The armboard is connected to this 'plinth', (and becomes part of it) that supports the platter and bearing. |
Hi Henry – welcome to the thread. I will reply to your question with my actual DD and idler impressions later. Need to catch up with the holiday weekend that was anything but a holiday with two soon to be 18 years olds packed up and sent away to college. Now I wait for their phone calls. Damn... now I need to change their phone plans before I get dinged with huge bills. :^( Slaw I am in total agreement concerning the sonic gains you must be getting in having the armboard separate from the plinth. Correction – replace the word plinth with platter, motor, bearing The word plinth is one of those bad words – it has been corrupted by analog audiophiles - IMO. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlinthPlinth to me means common platform. All my TT’s have a plinth. How the tonearm, motor, and platter, bearing connect to this common platform varies. There are good designs and bad designs. I have personally found that a well executed- bad design, can out perform a badly executed - good design. DG - need to look at that tonearm some more. living /breathing egg beater ? |
Chris: I am in total agreement concerning the sonic gains you must be getting in having the armboard separate from the plinth. If my room were larger, I'd try the same thing. I do however have some new thoughts in mind for a new armboard (replacing the stock one) that could isolate the ET better. I am going to try this at some point when I get my other issues worked out.
I'm totally happy with the "up @ over", and I have no doubt that with the new mounting structure I'm thinking of (will not be mounted to the TT base @ and I'm going to try Frogman's recommendation of the AN wire), I'll be even happier. One drawback with my current support structure is not very much room to access the lever to pull the spindle back. My new one will be mounted to the Symposium base thereby having better access and less vibration.
BTW Chris, I liked the pic you provided us of the wire Take Five Audio built for you. I loved the attention that was paid to the gradual step down coming out of the WBTs. Was this accomplished with teflon tubing?
Thanks for the compliment on my motor enclosure. I built it myself. My second try at one. I really learned alot from my first try. It may not pass a WAF, but to me the beauty is in it's solid construction and how it performs. I'm still planning on using a bearing/pinch roller scheme something like Dgarretson uses, that to me will be killer when it is finished.
Once you try thread drive, there's no going back, IMO. |
Ct0517, on my TransFi the "loom problem" is compounded by slightly thicker discretely shielded wires, and by the extra wires required for a balanced circuit. The feather-lite short wand is particularly vulnerable to fouling.
http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1284313864.jpg
The gantry grommet is about half way across the LP. The loom is dressed like an egg-beater. It expands and contracts as it moves, with the force vectors of the discrete wires approximately cancelling. |
BTW - If you want to know if your wire loom/TT/Preamp is up to par mount that 420str on a direct drive or idler where the motor is inches away from that cartridge. It will tell you right away if your setup is ok or has issues. Wires, TT motor related, other. Its a great test cartridge in this respect. Interesting Chris....as I have also found the 420STR to act much like a LOMC on my Victor DD in its susceptibility to 'feedback' when the volume is turned up? This despite the fact that the phono stage gain is set to the low MM value which, incidentally displays no such 'feedback' with 'normal' MMs? Do you have any thoughts on why this should be the case with the 420STR? |
Slaw – fwiw - here are my thoughts on the ET2 loom so far for me. When this thread started I had many questions about the wire loom. The options seems daunting. I had mounted the arm multiple times on different TT setups and found the full plinths to always be the biggest PITA for this tonearm. On the old stock HW19MKIV and TNT the wire used to go down through a hole in the plinth ! What I have found personally since is that on an arm pod / pillar or tower, its good to get the “SMILE” half circle loop where the wire exits the arm. There seems to be minimal wire movement this way with this tonearm when leveled properly. I find with this half loop I can add enough blue tac to the counterweight to make the arm free float – then I can touch the wire in the loop around with my finger and the armtube does not move, regardless of its position over the record. So for a full plinth this setup is more difficult to do. Frogman has his set up this way. I hope he doesn’t mind me posting his pic again. With a smile :^) http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1337980360.jpgIf I ever put my ET2 arm on a full plinth again I would do something similar so the wires comes out of structure like a bridge pillar to form that half circle - smile. Now with an arm tower/pillar or armpod it can just hang off the end of the armtube to create that loop the other end connecting directly to the phono stage. It makes it really easy. Is there a better way ? Thoughts ? My looms are naked and I have no noise with MM and MC. I attribute that to the place I got them from and the fact the preamps are right next to the tonearms. BTW - If you want to know if your wire loom/TT/Preamp is up to par mount that 420str on a direct drive or idler where the motor is inches away from that cartridge. It will tell you right away if your setup is ok or has issues. Wires, TT motor related, other. Its a great test cartridge in this respect. Slaw - had a look at your virtual page setup – your loom seems to mimic the Kuzma Airline arm ? Up and over as you say. How is it working ? In the pic it looks more rigid this way ? I also saw the motor mount for your VPI table. Did you make that ? It looks gorgeous. The thread drive is working out well ? Cheers |
Hey Guys, I've been quietly thinking of the next step in regards to my set-up with the Acutex. I've had several thoughts on it after re-reading your posts and thinking of how to better dress a wire loom. I still like my over the spindle option but have new thoughts on the support mechanism and wire/clips.
I want to implement the new support along with different cartridge clips first, so I can get proper cart set-up with my old wire loom, before building a completely new wire loom.
I also want to completely do away with the braid/shield I currently use. I'm thinking of a combo of silk/cotton tubing and/or teflon tubing as part of the support structure and vibration control scheme.
Any thoughts from you guys would be helpful. |
Great link Chris, I had forgotten about it. Definitive comparison of the Acutex 3xx and 4xx. |
Addendum:
I have no doubt that if the ET2 manual ever got updated by Bruce, there would be a separate chapter on matching the tonearm with the compliance of the cartridge. Newly bought tonearms really should come with a single, double and triple leaf spring I beam.
Maybe they do ?
Both my ET2 tonearms were bought used. |
Hi Danny Pictures of the Acutex 4 series can be seen here. Go down about 2/3 of the way down. http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=6675.45412 and 415 look like kissing cousins. 420 is very different. I wasn’t clear in my last post. The 412 has lots of strong bass. The issue was it was over emphasized bass above 40 hz unlike the 420 which is more linear (sic) in my room on the ET2. This is based on running the 15 IPS tape and LP together, the lp about 5 seconds behind, and switching between the two on the fly. Note that I was clear that this was a triple, not double leaf spring setup on an high pressure ET2 not a ET 2.5. ET 2.0 spindle resonates at a slighter higher HZ than the larger 2.5 which in my case now currently has the double leaf spring on it and my MC once more. The single leaf spring is just lying around these days. I should make up some more as they cost only $15 each. You can see the leaf spring hear. For a double, glue two together. Triple etc…. http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1335035482.jpgWe have Frogman to thank for this one. We are able to match the cartridge compliance at one end (cartridge) to the other end (counterweight) and use whichever leaf spring works best in our own systems. Think of it as two of almost same weight persons (cartridge end heavier) on an elongated teeter totter with springs on their bums. As an update - yesterday afternoon one 420str was air lifted, scheduled to arrive this week at its destination. Tallahassee, Florida. |
Hello Chris, not an expert, but 33audio has an Acutex 3xx chart showing the actual size of each cartridge of the 3xx chart. This chart probably means nothing compared to the 4xx, but its all we have, and from there we only have speculation. The Acutex 415 seems on the literature to only have compliance difference's, but sounds nothing like the Acutex 420 according to Professor Timeltel, and he has never steered me wrong.
Your take on the Acutex 412 is like mine except the bass is strong like the 420. It has trouble with cymbals on my system. Mostly white noise. I never heard cymbal problems in music before, but someone mentioned it a while back and it has ruined a lot of good music for me, so maybe it is ok for others on there systems. |
412 versus 420 on a ET 2.0 HP with a triple leaf spring.
Initial impressions.
The numbers from the printed manual.
412 /// 420
20 – 35khz /// 20 -45khz - Freq response
30 db at 1 khz /// 33db at 1khz Channel Separation
27db at 10khz /// 29db at 10khz
3.5 mv at 1 khz /// 3.2mV at 1khz Output voltage
STR /// Perfect STR Stylus
24 x 10(-6) /// 42 x 10(-6) Compliance
1.3 – 2.1g /// 1.0 – 2.0 Tracking Force
Compared to the Grey 420 the stoplight 412 looks like a model plane fighter engine/machine gun that is actually firing. Guaranteed to attract a little toddler if nearby for those with little kids around.
Again sounds pretty ridiculous for the price. How much do you guys think these things actually cost to make anyway? I am curious.
IMO - Its lacking that natural gusto aggressiveness and extension that its bigger brother the 420 has, that is also present on master tape dubs. Much more polite sounding especially in the very low bass – much like the Empire 4000 DIII.
Hardly any hours but it has too much happening (emphasis) in the midrange and upper bass for me to get comfortable with it on my modded Quad 57’s. Too much of good thing ? Very early but I am pulling up anchor and will try it somewhere else later.
A question for the cartridge experts. I would appreciate your expertise here.
What is the difference between STR and Perfect STR.
Specifically - How much bearing does this STR vs Perfect STR have on precise alignment and geometry of a tonearm ? I am curious.
My understanding is that the 420 has a very small footprint. Does that mean it requires more precision in alignment. I say this from my personal experience in trying to get it right on a couple of pivot arms previous to the ET2. |
Last one I saw sold for US$2500 on Ebay only a few months ago, cant remember what arm it had on it. So the thing is worth about $5-6k, plus some premium for condition. Based on the sellers perception of value maybe I should offer him my Final Audio for $20k plus the Nakamichi. I think the CT would be better. |
The seller has no feedback, AND it's Audiogon. Also, altho it's a rare collectible and there is no real market value, the asking price is about 2X recent sales prices for this item of which I am aware. |
Remember this turntable link I posted a little while back. Nakamichi ET 2.5 Well its up for sale :^) Just having my morning coffee and I came across it. No affiliation with this at all. Just thought it was kinda cool to come cross it. |
The weekends... I got it!
I have around 21 hours on the Acutex. Still loving it. I'm becoming one with this transducer and therefore am more aware of what's going on now, that it's becoming of age.
Starting to get slightly annoying in the mid to upper, mid-range. Not really any other issue, well, a little sibilance.
I know exactly what's going on , because I've experienced it in my system and other's, with different cartridges.
If you look back at my intitial posts, you'll see that one of two caveats I mentioned in setting this cartridge up with my current wire loom was not having the center spindle height close to the lp surface. This, as explained in the manual, is very important. I know from personal experience that this will cause the very issue I'm currently experiencing with the Acutex. Annoying in the mid to upper, mid-range, also it can result in splashy treble. Fixing my cartridge clips so I can ultimately lower the armwand assembly at the same time as acheiving top of cartridge being parallel with lp, will absolutely take care of this issue. |
Just to say one more thing about listening to the Acutex... I'm enjoying listening more than I have in some time. The album sides seem to be over with before I know it. To me, this is probably due to the "ease of presentation" provided by this cartridge and the totally relaxed feeling I get while listening. |
Chris: Your comment about this hobby having alot to do with resonant behavior got me thinking of some reasons the Acutex may be more suitable with the ET. Setup at proper overhang, the armwand is slid (back) fairly far within it's adjustment range, therefore to me it seems that gives the armwand increased structural ridgitity thereby reducing resonances. Of course, I have limited experience with cartridges compared to most of you. |
The arm is ready to go out of the box and requires no additional "fitting" by moving the spindle by the customer. That would be a poor design. Kevin - Have you ever come across any analog product that did not require additional fitting or adjustment ? All conversations I have had with Bruce have pretty much been a reflection of what is in the manual already. For this subject see pages 39-40 for the answers . When I got back my 2nd ET2 arm as a 2.5 I can remember a couple of times the arm started skipping on me, like it was binding. The pump pressure seemed ok. Sliding the spindle up and down a couple of times without pressure seemed to help my setup. It never did it again. As far as good and poor designs are concerned. IMO – A worst case scenario with an ET2 tonearm is if someone has totally neglected this tonearm after 20 years and actually allowed buildup to occur on the spindle – Now you can take a knife to it and scrap it off, and then clean it with alcohol again. Read pages 39 – 40 in the manual. And bring it back to operating condition. This to me represents not a poor, good or great but brilliant design. The tonearm will never wear out – it’s a lifetime of use. In another case – take a person that loves their TT with a soft suspension that has microscopic movements. This person would say the ET2 is a bad design for this table. I would agree. So you can have good and bad designs for every application. If someone was praising an analog component as the "next best thing" "perfect design" - to me it can never be perfect because the medium is faulty. No two records are alike. I am amazed we can get good sound at all ? That’s probably what keeps me intrigued with it. The disbelief. When are you going to get your ET2 up and running again? |
Chris: I fully agree with you. This was the easiest way to get the Acutex up and running. My cartidge clips aren't bendable so my thought is most likely either another wire loom or surgery to my present one. Not sure when I'll get around to it. |
You can’t put wear on the ET2 spindle or bearing. The spindle can only be damaged by driving over it with your car. I realize that moving the spindle back and forth in the manifold feels “very wrong” and “rough” without the pump. It feels like you are damaging something. But you are not hurting anything and actually helping it if you can believe it. You are actually encouraged to do this a little on new arms to help them settle in. If the spindle is so indestructible and tough, how can simply moving the spindle with no air benefit? The clearances between the spindle and manifold are set at the factory. You do not want to change the clearances. The arm is ready to go out of the box and requires no additional "fitting" by moving the spindle by the customer. That would be a poor design. I will be happy to eat my words if you can provide some proof that moving the spindle with no air does any good. Did Bruce say this to you? |
I look forward to Bruce T's comments! |
****When you feel you have it sounding as best as possible if at all possible please remove the shim and try to finesse the wires to get the cartridge on without a shim. To compare. The arm tube is CF but the head of it is not. I just realized this the other day. Its a resonance hobby. Adding materials complicates things. I side on the minimalist approach and trying to get it right that way - fewer layers the better - ****
Ditto! |
“when changing cartridges eliminates any wear to the spindle or bearing “
Hi Ketchup.
You can’t put wear on the ET2 spindle or bearing. The spindle can only be damaged by driving over it with your car. Well - I am just joking here of course - but just trying to paint a picture of how indestructible the design is. I realize that moving the spindle back and forth in the manifold feels “very wrong” and “rough” without the pump. It feels like you are damaging something. But you are not hurting anything and actually helping it if you can believe it. You are actually encouraged to do this a little on new arms to help them settle in.
Now by tightening bolts too much you can make parts change shape. Loosening them up and letting the arm relax will fix it. My first ET2 was a little deformed this way from previous owners.
As an update.
I have been on the phone with Bruce. I am sending my 420str to him to listen to. I am hoping to get his impressions here – well if not first hand at least in the 3rd party.
I will be putting my MC back on this weekend after 110 hours no sibilance issues whatsoever with my 420 str. The moment of truth has arrived for me and this little cartridge.
Slaw - good to hear the 420 is sounding good. When you feel you have it sounding as best as possible if at all possible please remove the shim and try to finesse the wires to get the cartridge on without a shim. To compare. The arm tube is CF but the head of it is not. I just realized this the other day. Its a resonance hobby. Adding materials complicates things. I side on the minimalist approach and trying to get it right that way - fewer layers the better - just my opinion.
It would make for a great comparison if you are able to tell us the difference in sound it makes. FWIW - I tried a shim initially - one of those aluminum shims from a headshell on one of the pivot arms. It muddied the highs on my setup.
|
Regarding changing the cartridge with the air pump on- I made a simple latch that locks the cueing shift to the cueing eccentric when you don't want the arm to move around on you. Using the latch with the pump on when changing cartridges eliminates any wear to the spindle or bearing while also eliminating cartridge damage. The spindle, at least, is hard anodized, but it's good piece of mind to always have the pump running when moving the arm... even the slightest bit. |
Dave: I hear what your saying. |
Slaw, IME on Trans-Fi linear tonearm the M420 STR's sibilance gradually resolves over 50-75 hrs. What little remains of it thereafter is an acceptable compromise, considering the eyes-wide-open performance that communicates everything that's great about vinyl. |
Another tip from downunder - I found plugging the pumps into isolation transformers rather than directly into the mains smoothed the sound out quite a lot even with dual pumps/surge tank etc. |
I'm a believer yeah yeah yeaaaaaah, I'm a believer! It's over 15 hours in on the Acutex. My excitement has me reporting back already. Right now, there are two areas my former Dyna set-up surpassed the Acutex. The silences or black background had a sort of erie quality before and the sibilances were handled slightly better. This little cartridge has replaced over $2000.00 worth of equipment, leaving no doubt that it's superior with this arm in a less than optimal set-up. The soundstage really is impressive. I want to say vivid but that might imply too much of something. I'll just say the performers are more "present" without being overimphasized, not beyond the front plane of the speakers. I feel it's more revealing of minute changes in VTA or VTF. |
Frogman: I had the exact same thing happen with my Airtech tank.
Chris: I like to use lint free swabs for maintainence issues, from spindle/manifold/ to TT bearing cleaning.
Also, I use Techspray isopropyl alcohol that's 99.9% pure. Evaporates much faster. All available at Parts Express. |
To new owners of an ET2
NEVER change a cartridge with the pump running.
Else probably risk a fate to your cartridge - similar to trying to walk down slimy, slippery, wood deck steps in the pouring rain in summer – without a handrail. |
I remember around 5 years back something happened to the evaporator in my pump. I didn’t know right away. What clued me in was checking the 2nd pressure gauge/regulator that is near the arm. It is also the backup system – remember I am in the business of disaster recovery planning. The bulb in this picture http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1301961480.jpgHad filled halfway with water. I thought to myself WTF is going on here? What if all this water got into the capilliaries of the manifold? It turned out that the moisture exhaust tube in the pump – its outlet was dirty/blocked and it had backed up filled with water and was sending all moisture down the tube to the 2nd regulator/filter. A little CLR on the metal outlet fixed the problem. WARNING to New Owners and OLD. Do not buy a used ET2 from someone that has not been using a proper moisture filter. Unless your willing to spend an afternoon and do the simple cleaning procedure (documented in the manual) of scrubbing the capilliaries. I did this for fun with my first ET2 9 years ago. Its like giving your ET2 new lungs. Page 42. Pipe cleaner and isopropol. If you are having problems running your HP ET2 arm at a higher psi. Your capilliaries need to be cleaned. Look here first. Do the procedure. Frogman - A few more of these type of posts should be enough to scare away the poseurs from wanting this tonearm. Good thing Bruce did not use shiny silver and gold parts or we would have a real problem. |
Great tips Chris, and I couldn't agree more. When I started using higher pressure pumps a few years ago my Airtech surge tank literally exploded; in spite of the tank having a safety valve. The safety valve would not kick in until about 21 psi, and since my preferred psi target was 19 psi, things were generally fine. But the tank was apparently getting stressed, until it finally gave out. I constructed a new surge tank using a 6 ft length of 8" diameter PVC pipe with end caps, and used the fittings, valve, and filling from the Airtech. It works great and shows no sign of stress due to the higher pressure. Since I keep the tank/pump and regulator in the basement directly below my listening room, the tank's size is not an issue. The difference in sound with and without the use of the surge tank is very audible. |
To any owners of linear air bearing arms that use significant psi to work.
We were born with two hands. I don’t know about the others here but one of my hands is more sensitive than the other to touch and feel. I am right handed but my left hand is more sensitive.
Turn on your setup and take your more sensitive hand if you have one, and hold the air tube going into your arm with your thumb and index finger - a few inches from where it enters. Do you feel any pulsations, vibrations at all ? If you do your air delivery is not optimized and you are not hearing what your arm can do.
Likewise if when placing your ear anywhere near the ET2 tonearm you should not hear any air escaping. |
Dover, I would think that the changes in the sound caused by varying the amount of torque are due to ensuing changes in the resonance characteristics of the arm. Regards. |
Frogman - that was one point I was going to mention that has not been covered, the tightening of the 4 bolts on the manifold. I tried one bolt tighter than the rest to get a single point ground effect, but ultimately came to the same conclusion as you, evenly and not too tight.
Re the cabling, my ultimate set up had the armwire running straight from the wand to a teflon block on the side of the tt plinth midway along the arm travel, ie centered. But I also turned my preamp sideways and backed it up to the deck so I only needed 6" of cable from tt to pre. I simply soldered the arm wire straight into the phono cable. The whole loom was probably not much more than 14". For some customers I would install phono inputs on the side of the preamp, if the phono was situated on the left, so they could put the preamp next to the tt and run super short looms. In my own instance 6" of raw MIT cable beats 1m of MIT Oracle ( and probably any other phono cable out there ) easily in this application. The best wire I found was a silk ofc litz, preferred to stock, Vdh silver & cardas.
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Dover: That's true, plus the 1/2 m cable I used.
Frogman: Yes, I'm referring to the top of the mounting plate. After around 6 hours in, I'm noticing the soundstage being better integrated however sibilance has become an issue. Kind of spitty, or sizzle. I can assume that when I'm able to get optimum set-up this issue will resolve itself and the qualities that now seem very good will become even better. Thanks for the additional tips. |
Hi Slaw, tuneful bass indeed. The Acutex on the ET makes the most realistic bass that I have ever gotten with my setup. Not just powerful (a lot of cartridges do that), the bass moves with the same rhythmic impetus as the rest of the frequency range; essential for music to "make sense". A truism among musicians is that things always start from the bottom up. Again, not the quantity of bass, but the clarity of the musical contribution of the bass "voices". Get that right, and a lot of things fall into place.
The soundstage will open up as the cartridge settles. When you say you have the "body" paralell to the LP, I hope you mean the top mounting plate and not the "nose" of the cartridge. After the cartridge settles in (takes quite a while) try increasing VTF .1-.3 grams, while at the same time raising the back of the ET a bit. Increasing the tracking force will lower VTA.
Also check the amount of torque used on all the ET adjustment bolts. A subtle effect, but I have found that if the bolts are too tight the sound is not as open and opulent as it can be. It's even easy to over tighten the bolt that secures the end cap that holds the leaf spring to the extent that the spindle tube can be squeezed and become misshapen, adversely affecting the sound. |
Bear in mind that you are not comparing a Dynavector 17D to an Acutex 420.
You are comparing a "Dynavector 17D plus Bob's Cinemag 3440 MC transformer" to an Acutex 420. |
Hey guys, I've mounted my Acutex 420 and thought I'd send some intial impressions. I am having a couple issues with my current wire loom that's keeping me from an optimal set-up. So please keep this in mind regarding remarks I make on cartridge performance.
My wire loom was made with longer than usual cartridge clips that require me to use an 1/8" spacer. Now that the cartridge total height has increased, I've had to make adjustments to allow for this by raising the manifold assembly in the vertical post. Only now can I get the top of cartridge body parallel to the record surface with the arc block centered in it's adjustment range. So, now the center of the spindle is farther than I'd like above the height of an lp.
The tonearm exits the back of the armwand: I constructed this with a braid/shield inside the armwand and had it exit around an 1" . This makes it impossible to get overhang exactly right with this cartridge at this point. I'm about 1/32" too far forward.
Obviously, I will correct these issues in the future.
I'm using a double leaf spring, w/ VTF @ 1.5 grams, top fo cart. body parallel with lp, running slightly above 17 psi. All remarks are comparing the just removed Dyna D3.
The first thing that hits me is the bass. It has greater authority, the bass lines are very easy to follow, has greater realism.
The midrange is natural and unforced. The treble is pleasant and has no edge. Not as extended as the Dyna.
Soundstage has nice separation, placement of performers and instuments are nice in the context of the total picture.The spread isn't as wide as the Dyna. The Dyna has more of an airly quality. Soundstage doesn't extend beyond speakers.
Doesn't do audio gymnastics, but that's is fine with me.
I'm loving it already and do not miss the Dyna.
The two lps I've listened to so far are Police "Ghost in the Machine" which was the last lp I heard befor making the switch and Shawn Colvin "Steady On". If you don't already own the latter, I can recommend it.
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Dg, I use 1.5 meters of wire with no sign of any issue due to length. I suppose it's possible that a shorter length sounds even better, but the Cardas and Discovery looms are both 1.0 m and the AN is obviously superior to both; according to my tastes, of course. |
