It takes a bit of tweaking to make the ET2 arm work with the Sota's suspension. I had a buddy with that same set-up years ago. I am recalling his experience, not my personal experience so take this for what it is worth. The tonearm mass moving across the platter causes the level to shift. If I recall it correctly, you must level the platter (front to back) with the tonearm at the halfway point- the middle of the record so to speak. That way the platter is level minus a bit when the tonearm is at the edge of the record and level plus a bit when at the inner groove. Also, set the left side of the table (opposite the tonearm) just a bit lower than the right side of the table. All of that is after getting the correct amount of lead shot in the pocket. I think that you will find some cartridges will work better than others. Since the Sota is a floating chassis the arm will be putting some amount of side load on the cartridge's suspension.
Sota Star Sapphire suspension question
Hey all; I picked up a beautiful Sota that has all the upgrades I would want. I'm coming from a VPI Scout and setup for the Sota is quite different. It has a ET 2 Arm. I have 2 questions, but if you have any comments please share. Initially I had the rubber feet screwed all the way up "locking" the sub chassis. I figured out I had to let the chassis go free. The arm board/arm side is lighter then the left motor side, is the where I load it up with lead to balance? Also, I tried my Benz SL and no matter what tracking force, the angle/weight are too heavy and distort my needle so I went back to a Dyn 20. Any thoughts on that. Also, I get no vacuum from the vac unit, I looked inside and it's clean but nada. Any thoughts. Thanks in advance. Jack