Eminent Technology LFT8B’s reversing woofer polarity

As long as I'm here ;-) :

I'm assuming every LFT-8b owner bought and is using the Sound Anchors stands specific for the speaker. If so, and you intend to keep the ET's for a while, an accessory to consider is the Seismic Pod by Townshend Audio.

While many speakers are candidates for the full Seismic Platform or Podium (I forget which is for loudspeakers), the LFT-8 mounted on the dedicated SA stand is not one of them. The SA stand is a T-shaped outrigger design, and Seismic Pods installed in place of the stock spikes works great. The LFT's center of mass is such that a "C" Pod bolted onto each of the two front legs and a single "D" Pod on the lone rear leg balances perfectly. I had John at Townshend send me Pods made with a bolt hole through the top "cap", which allowed me to bolt the Pods directly onto the bottom surface of three legs (using thread adapters I got from those provided with the IsoAcoustic GAIA footers ;-). The top of the cap is the same diameter as the width of the SA legs, so the pairing looks they were made for each other. Whether the sonic improvement justifies the expenditure I'll leave up to others. I'm not going back to the spikes ;-) . 

thanks Eric - always appreciate your inputs...
jim
@bd

Likewise, all info is much appreciated, good sir -- really key insight shared here.  Also, fun to find a gathering of fellow LFT-ists :).  I'm off to experiment with positioning again, with less toe in this time, as per your suggestion.  Bruce mentions in the manual that they generally sound flat when on-axis with the listener, so I've been doing that by default, but perhaps this is very room and personal taste dependent.

Amplifiers

In  the past 1 1/2 year three tube amps and three pre-amp / phono stage has passed through the ET’s. I  believe with @bdp24 that tubes in the signal chain mitigate brightness. I started with an all tube combo, vintage MFA Luminescence pre + 100 w push pull triode. Needless to say there was no brightness. However, the Luminescence was giving other problems. The preamp chain then  went solid state with Lightspeed Passive Attenuator and a current mode phono stage, creating a more revealing and transparent sound. No brightness, again. I played with a vintage International Projector Corp am 1026 amp for two months. With only 22 w I have come to realize all the talk about how difficult the ET’s are to drive, minimum 100w..etc. is BS. Right now my main amp is from Japan,  Mactone mh-300 b, with output again in the 20’s. Four 300b’s in push pull class A configuration are playing very well with the ET’s. No brightness to report.

Room Placement

My room is 3.3 x 9 M. The ET’s sit 2.8 m from back wall, almost 1/3 into the room, with 40 cm from side wall and quite a bit of toe in.
I am getting the holographic, image specific, and wide soundstage that I was told only box speakers excel in. I didn’t expect it from the ET’s, but thoroughly enjoyable.


Cartridge

Through a recent change in cartridge I did get a glimpse of ET’s brightness with the Audio Tekne MC 6310. Framer described it as more Lyra- like, i.e. analytical, than Koetsu. Well that is a pretty apt. However, adding a damping pad from Origin Live helped greatly.

@ bdp24 Thanks for the Townsend pod information. My only question is whether removing The the sound anchor stand and simply placing the speaker directly on a Townshend speaker base might not be a even better solution?

Interesting question, @ledoux1238. If I didn't already have the Sound Anchor stands and like them as much as I do, the Townshend Podium option would be worth considering. I'm sure the lead shot-filled Sound Anchors stands are at least as non-resonant as is the plate of the Podium, and of far higher mass. My thinking is that the higher mass may provide a more stable platform for the high vertical center-of-mass of the ET panels. Another thought is that the SA stand bolts directly onto the bass bin of the LFT-8, with the Townshend Podium the latter just sits on the plate. Either choice will do nicely!