System edited: My brain must be suffering post new year's meltdown. I've been wanting to replace a long run of blue jeans cable (12ft), so after a year of thumb twiddling, I have the great guys at sonic craft make me 6ft cables using neotech nei 3001 and furutech fp 120 rca's. I place the order and it arrives today and I get 3ft cables. I immediately shoot off an email alerting them that a mistake had been made. To which they responded that I ordered 6ft worth of cable which makes for a 3ft pair; if I wanted a 6ft pair I needed to buy 12ft of cable. ...um, right. I have to admit that that basic piece of arithmetic completely escaped me until the very moment I read that sentence. Although they generously offered to take back the cable, I was so dumbfounded by my idiocy that I was determined to make 3ft work. This required a good deal of rearranging equipment and..,cutting a rather large hole through the living room wall. I don’t dare tell my wife who, bless her heart, already frowned upon the tiny hole I made to run the ET 2’s air supply to the garage. In the end, it worked out..barely…and I believe I’m better off with the shorter cable. Who knew that stupidity could pay off so handsomely?

banquo363 January 17, 2015 05:54

I too have just bought a JVC/Victor Z1 with original beryllium cantilever which has ALSO collapsed...😱

It is written that Athena was born out of Zeus' head fully armored and ready for battle. Our z1 cartridges have had a less exuberant beginning? Let us hope jico makes us forget about this--although if I had an original z1 stlyus in otherwise good form, I'd send it to someone to have the suspension fixed. Well, perhaps not, if the jico replacement is equally good.

I don't dare mount my NOS x1/ii stylus right now, as my fragile costitution is not prepared for another disappointment. :) In the meanwhile, I mounted the lp gear x1/ii stylus (vivid line) and after a shrill beginning, it's producing a refined and rich, if a bit polite, sound. We'll see in the upcoming hours but not bad at all for the price.

banquo363 January 10, 2015 16:11

Hi Banquo,
I too have just bought a JVC/Victor Z1 with original beryllium cantilever which has ALSO collapsed...😱
It actually works until it warms up and then....on the inner grooves...the clear plastic extended front 'nose' rides on the record causing noise and mistracking...😁
I suspect that the lack of a stylus guard has led (over the years) to the cartridge being stored while resting on its tip...❓👀😖
I have a Jico SAS replacement stylus on its way...like you...so we will both be able to verify the 'greatness' of this proclaimed cartridge.
From what I've already heard....I am optimistic...😎

halcro January 09, 2015 09:56

System edited: There's never a dull moment when dealing with NOS cartridges. My recently acquired NOS victor 4dtz1s stylus (shibata) rides very low, so low that it was just a matter of time before the suspension completely gave out. So I went proactive. The stylus has a tension wire and I thought that it would be easy to adjust that tension--if only I could deal with the set screw that appeared to be frozen in time. So, I bought a nifty wiha screwdriver (0.8 x 40mm) and some kano kroil. The latter possesses magical powers, as it took less than a drop of it to loosen the screw (a further bonus was that it also loosened the jico stylus body which was stuck to my victor x1 cartridge--more on that later) Once I loosened the set screw, the next obstacle immediately presented itself: I had no idea what to do. I read somewhere that one could pull the tension wire but mine wouldn’t budge since it appears to be glued down; then I read that one could push the cantilever into the tube and that that would adjust tension. After a couple of hours of pulling and pushing, I recognized the futility of my efforts. My one last move was to cut a bit of magic eraser and stuff it into the cantilever’s tube. Obviously this is not ideal but, as it turns out, this works! Well, sort of. The cantilever is no longer near the point of collapse. And after an inauspicious first audition, I found the cart extremely detailed, open and best of all tonally superior (especially the bass) to every other cart I own. Wow. The problem is tracking error—no doubt due to the magic eraser stuffed underneath the cantilever! This is sad because I doubt I’ll see another shibata z1s stylus (as opposed to the ubiquitous conical ones). Hopefully, the jico sas z1 stylus I ordered will be a worthy successor. Fingers crossed.

banquo363 January 08, 2015 16:10

This is a well traveled cart: started in Italy, then So. California, then Toronto, then Florida, back to Toronto, then to the embrace of its final resting place, my ET-2 arm.

Too bad you can't collect on those travel points.

ct0517 December 22, 2014 18:34

hi Acman,

The acutex is stock: it just went on a world audition tour. Maybe when I wear it out I'll send it to Axel.

Glad you like the 2500 series astatic. It may be the festive holiday mood, but I have it mated with the mf300 and I like it..a lot.

So, I take it you found a phono cable you like? What did you choose?

banquo363 December 22, 2014 16:25

Hello Banquo363, Nice Cart, what did you have done to the Acutex? I have always wanted to get a 312 stylus, and put a boron cantilever on it.

BTW, I was able to get the Astatic 2502. I like it with the Mf 200 stylus. I was listening to Return to Forever, last night, and was very impressed.

acman3 December 22, 2014 12:48

Thanks to Ct0517, she's returned home. This is a well traveled cart: started in Italy, then So. California, then Toronto, then Florida, back to Toronto, then to the embrace of its final resting place, my ET-2 arm. It's final because the two are a match made in audio heaven (with my technics arm, it didn't sound like a keeper at all). Reminds me of my astatic mf 2501/mf300 frankenstein cart, but with better high end extension: both get you onto the dance floor.

banquo363 December 21, 2014 14:46

After months of searching and waiting, I finally acquired 2 items: sound anchor stands for the 801's and this, a NOS victor stylus for my x-1ii. The next feat will be to take out the jico stylus w/o breaking either the cart or the stylus. Not trivial since it appears to be permanently stuck. Any suggestions on how to safely remove stylus are most welcome. ...the jury is still out on the stands.

banquo363 December 07, 2014 04:53

Yes, the work was done by the Garrott Bros. I have considered getting a new 103 modded by Expert Stylus company with a paratrace diamond - that would be the closest and nearest. I still have a NOS 103D which is very good as well, but a little fragile sounding compared to the modded 103 (could be the age). One thing I learnt from the Garrott's ( as a dealer I sent many cartridges to them for retipping/repairing ) is that cantilever material and tip profile choice should only be made with a full understanding of the cartridge design. They often refused to put microscanner styli on cartridges they felt were not suited. I would not put a ruby cantilever on anything that did not have one originally.

dover November 20, 2014 14:42

Point well taken, Dover. I used to run a Denon 103 on a Denon DA 305 arm. It was a pain to change vta on that arm, so I set it once and pretty much left alone. Over time I noticed that, while I was neurotically changing VTA for every record on the Technics arm, the denon didn't require it.

I take it that the modded Denon you refer to is now unobtainium?

banquo363 November 20, 2014 13:40

Banquo, the cure for VTA neurosis is running cartridges with less extreme tip profiles - spherical or biradial - less pinch distortion as well. I ran a Denon 103 with composite Boron/aluminium cantilever and weinz parabolic diamond, probably the most musical cartridge I've had in the ET, albeit not the most resolving.

dover November 19, 2014 18:35

Oh I hear you Banquo. I have just always done VTA changes by ear. I even removed the stock ET2 VTA dial gauges on my arms. We should note also that some cartridge/stylus profiles make VTA adjustments not required as often. It is imo a more rounded sound, but many like this. Some even call this more musical, less Hi Fi and just get into the music more not worrying about so many VTA changes. Hey different strokes. Just another example imo of the beauty of analog over digital. Individual tailoring. But it still all depends on proper setup.

ct0517 November 19, 2014 16:10

understood, Ct0517. The freedom from my neurosis was 'bliss' when I defeated the vta mechanism on the et2. But now with the 2.5 and hearing the difference optimal vta can make, I'll quote Luther: "Here I stand, I can do no other."

banquo363 November 19, 2014 15:12

Now I can carry on with my neurotic habit of writing down the optimal vta for each cartridge and album.

If I had to actually write something down for this hobby, it wouldn't be my hobby for very long. That sounds like way too much work to me. I say this to you as a certified PMP :^)

ct0517 November 19, 2014 14:56

One of the deficiencies, in my opinion, of the stock ET-2 arm is the difficulty in setting (and returning to a known setting) a cart's vta and vtf. Being used to the elegant and efficient system found on the Technics epa 100 arm, I found this mildly annoying. Yesterday, I received in the mail Bruce's solution: a vta dial indicator . It looks like a stop watch and mounts atop the vta tower via a carbon(?) bracket. Very cool and useful. Now I can carry on with my neurotic habit of writing down the optimal vta for each cartridge and album.

banquo363 November 19, 2014 03:27

I liked my ET-2 arm so much, I decided to get another one. This one is the 2.5 version, has the heavy verion of the magnesium arm wand, a larger spindle, and is designed for very low compliance MC carts. As I do not own a MC cart worth mentioning, I mounted the Astatic mf 2501 cart I have been using to very good effect with the other ET 2 arm, the one with carbon fiber arm wand and designed for higher compliance MM carts. At 35 the compliance for the Astatic is quite high, but after a couple of hours on the ET 2.5, I concluded that it sounded significantly better than when paired with the ET 2. So, as usual, Halcro is onto something. Which is not to say that the Astatic couldn't sound better with the ET 2.5 w/carbon fiber arm wand attached. That test awaits us next week.

banquo363 November 04, 2014 16:10

The move went great. Still trying to figure out how to set up the system, but at least I have music again. I have all my LP's and I am picking up the CD's this weekend from storage. I will be looking for a MF 2500/ 2501.

Btw, I own a Flaco Jimenez Cd. he is very good!

acman3 October 31, 2014 21:52

This one's for you, Acman3.

banquo363 October 31, 2014 13:39

System edited: [url=http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1414775618.jpg]This one's[/url]for you, Acman3. Astatic mf 2501 cart with mf 300 stylus. Most transparent and 'alive' cart I own. When I can get my et2 arm to behave, the result is exhilarating music. Flaco Jimenez's accordion has never been so 'in my room' as with this combo. Thanks, again. How was your move? New room set up yet?

banquo363 October 31, 2014 13:36

Banquo - Just a thought. I am thinking the air compressor may be introducing noise into the system ? Mute the system and lower the arm without the air compressor running then unmute. Is there still buzz ?

ct0517 October 08, 2014 21:58

Especially when my wife walked into my room, looked at the external compressor regulator/gauge and said "It looks like a bomb"

too funny .. I can just hear her conversations with her friends.

"You won't believe what he has set up now....in addition to the record player with the exposed insides, there is now tubing going half way through our house, a hanging bottle with numbers on it, even wires hanging from our beloved wall. The only good thing I think, is that he has started praying again the last few nights."

:^)

ct0517 October 08, 2014 18:55

Thanks gentlemen. I mounted the shure last night, Halcro. As I am suffering from ET 2 induced noise (hum and buzzing from hell) I am unable to confirm or deny your insight on the damping brush. I shouldn't have commented on my preference because IIRC I ran the shure only for a few hours, not enough time to form a considered judgment. I didn't mention the name of the new cart, Acman3, because I didn't expect it to survive the experimental phase of the et 2's set up. My grim prediction almost proved correct when I dropped the arm wand right onto a record edge while adjusting the arm's height. Only through divine intervention did the stylus survive. At any rate, it was the an Azden ym p 20e. Before that I had on a signet 5ea with an AT 2311 de. I won't be putting on the precious Astatics until I get things under control. (If I destroy those you'll find me huddled in the corner quietly weeping.) I'm trying to find a cart that's well shielded so as to minimize the noise I'm getting. In my ongoing war with noise, Ct0517, the score is Hum and Buzz 76; Banquo 1. I spent literally the entire day going through potential fixes. I discovered, as I was going to sleep, that one contributor is the LED lighting in my room--so now I'll have to play records in the dark. :) I have followed your advice on separating all the wires. I'm complaining but secretly I'm having a blast. Especially when my wife walked into my room, looked at the external compressor regulator/gauge and said "It looks like a bomb". That put a smile on my face for some reason. This is a step up from when she described the 801's as tombstones. So, evoking war and death: perhaps that's her general disposition towards our beloved hobby?

banquo363 October 08, 2014 14:11

Did your wife notice the air pressure gauge on the wall ? Its a good thing your dog is past the teething stage or I would fear for your ET2 lifeline.

Congrats on getting the initial setup done Banquo. If I can use an analogy as in the sport of racing; once you have had your first good run with this ET2, I found things can become addictive as there is much to learn and tweak and its all wide open access. You can venture more into the arm setup/mechanics, air supply/pump, or the wiring design further. The good thing is this is all for the most part DIY and you are not forced to purchase overpriced, over hyped audiophile products :^) to get there. You are already on the fast track with the wiring setup. Looking at your system page you came up with a neat DIY alignment jig based on your Mint. Great idea. Consider modifying it to force the ET2 to walk a really fine thin line. You will really hear the difference. Some other things that come to mind for future if your are looking for ideas. lol. Consider making a solid mass one material armpod (Brass/Aluminum) that will allow the three aluminum spiked Et2 legs to drain energy. The Pump is a wildcard - more time is needed to determine if your pump is an Ace or Joker but based on your Timeter's reputation in the medical world I'll bet on the former. Wiring - once noise has been reduced - I would split out the two wires going to wall from the armtube into four separate strands. This will make them that much more pliable with less resistance.

As Henry I enjoy seeing your rig progress and all the "fun" you are having.

up to my ears in puppy training....:^(

ct0517 October 08, 2014 09:30

"I'm using a new cart on the ET2"

You can't just say things like that in front of cartridge junkies without saying what cartridge! ;)

acman3 October 07, 2014 18:38