Digital BW, The Print

Hello, been reading the group, my first post though.....

I have been using the Permajet VT Blax ink set with my Epson 1290s on my Mac, running 
OSX 10.3 and the latest Epson driver.

Following the Permajet instructions the results are horrible, really muddy. I have tried a 
variety of Permajet papers, it's not the paper.

I know that the Epson driver has some issues, I can cope with those using my 
GretagMacbeth Eye-One to create custom ICC profiles for colour.

Also tried the CUPS driver, my prefered driver for colour images on my Epson 1200 and 
670 but the VT Blax ink printed from the CUPS driver is just as bad as the Epson.

If I use the same images on MacOS 9.2.2, printed from Photoshop 7.0 via the OS9 Epson 
driver for the 1290s the results are better but I suspect not as good as they should be.

On a PC, WindowsXP and PS7, Epson driver, the images are good, seems that the PC driver 
is better 'tuned' than the Mac driver(s).

My questions for you knowledgable lot are as follows...

1. Is the Permajet VT Blax a rebadged inkset from elsewhere..?

2. Does anyone else use this ink set with OSX Epson or CUPS drivers with any success..?

3. Would QTR be of any use with this ink set....?

Loads of questions, but I know this is the place to look for answers...:-)

Thanks in advance...

Glenn @ colourmad.co.uk