Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Hi Harry

re: VTA

The Lyra site shows your cartridge is made with a 20 degree vertical tracking angle.

One of Bruce’ findings documented in the ET2 manual.

The European vertical angle cutting standard closely matches the vertical angle present on modern day phono carts.

He’s done the analysis. If I brought a Lyra cart home I would grab one of my European made records that I like, set the top of the cart parallel with the record and go from there by ear. This is also appears to be the advice that John has given, and he is an actual Lyra owner. :^0

And I know we are aware of this but it’s worth repeating imo.

1) There are different vertical cut angles on records. And every time they change the cutting stylus, it is not a precise replacement. Also Logic says the Vertical cut angle on a new cutting stylus will not be exactly the same as it was before on the worn stylus. Then there is as we know,

2) Good and bad recordings of music. Some bright and highly compressed. I don’t like to fiddle with VTA too much. I have found with carts I have used that I can find an overall good spot using a European made record. Fine tuning out brightness and compression can be done using my pre-amp by either dialing the gain (separate from the volume) up or down. If its a good recording I can crank the gain up on my pre amp and set the volume from there.

Also

In talking with a couple studios that do vinyl in my area a few years ago, they indicated to me that if new music comes in from an artist that was recorded on better than CD quality files; these are indeed the files used for the LP usually; but one would need to check on a studio by studio basis to verify if you were really interested in that album. My digital is really good. I run off a dedicated Lenovo laptop to my ARC DAC8. I have a lot of vinyl to get through so I myself will not buy new 2017 vinyl of "new music" for an artist I "really" like, unless I can determine that the source digital files used were indeed better than cd quality 44.1 khz 16-bit.

Cheers Chris

Hey Harry,
I gave up the dust cover a long time ago, as my I-beam is too long to fit under it.
I hope you don't play lp's with the cover in place, but you probably already knew that the cover ruins the sq of the table.
By the way, I used to "moonlite" in Mooresville on weekends. -nice area.
John

Gyneguy how about 350 then?😁😇. Your a wise man for keeping it. I also have a Lyra helikon but the 7000 was a better match for my et as it had lower compliance. And yes I could see that the kleos may not be much of an improvement. 

Hey again,
I was told by a dealer that the suspension on the 20y/o AQ7000 NSX was probably shot and that it would tear up my LP's. That's why I bought the Kleos. Was this bad info, myth, sales pitch or what? Do suspensions really wear out even when the cartridge is not being used very much?
Any answers from anyone in this group greatly appreciated.
I think that the compliance on the Kleos is similar to the AQ7000.
John 

Hi Chris,
Thanks for nor banishing me from the thread.  Perhaps it's just coincidence but my go to LP for set up has long been a Keith Jarrett on ECM.  It is an all analog fine European pressing.  Problem is it is just trio music and doesn't present the full spectrum.  In my recent saga, as soon as the needle hit the RCA LSC Shaded Dog, large orchestral it was obvious something was very wrong.  Just ear splitting strings and brass.  I just started dialing down the VTA and everything smoothed out.  In addition the low frequency foundation of the music appeared.  Once I had it "right" on this LP I did some fine tuning with the ECM disc.  My poor Delos must have been standing on its nose. 😩  I guess the silver lining is that the nose of my diamond took all the wear and the part that now hits the record is still mint.😅

Not only has the top smoothed out without the loss of any detail, it was like I had been missing the entire bottom half of the scale.  I now have that magic "bloom" so many of us chase.

Like you, I buy almost no new music.  I don't find much of it matches my taste (Diana Krall excepted).  I do buy some reissue 180 gm stuff,  but a lot of that is trash and, contrary to claims, are not done from original master tapes.  I think Chad Kasem at Analog Productions does a terrific job, albeit he is pricing himself out of my market.  Rumor has it Pure Pleasure also does nice work.  I have one on order.  I'll let you know how it sounds.

Thanks for your patience.  Lord knows without your suggestions and encouragement my poor Delos might still be standing on its nose.
Harry