Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

True Chris, and for one reason: Choosing to go with Decca (and later London) pickups, the best LP playing system to install them in was, and is, the Townshend Rock (for reasons I won’t go into here) That table prohibits the use of a linear tracker, of course. I have been listening to LP’s on that combination for 30 years now: a London Super Gold on a Rock Elite Mk.2, with a number of different arms, currently a Zeta.

It’s just like one’s favorite loudspeaker requiring a certain type of power amplifier, one which may not be as good with any other loudspeaker. I think the transducers should be the first components chosen when assembling a system, the two opposite ends of the chain (ignoring for the sake of this discussion the room). Then the most appropriate components moving towards the center of the system (the pre-amp) chosen to optimize the transducers. That’s my system philosophy.

You obviously know that’s a good approach by having a Music Reference RM-10 for your QUAD ESL’s. I’ve never agreed with the idea of choosing a power amp first, then looking for a loudspeaker it can drive. Transducers are the "voice" of a system. For myself, the character and abilities of the Decca and London pickups are more important than the arm they are mounted on.

But I recently got myself a couple of old VPI’s just for fun (and for a song), and happened to see a pic of a London Reference mounted on a linear tracker that looked like it was made from a children’s Erector Set (remember those?): the Trans-Fi Terminator. If Brooks were still around, and I had more disposable income, I would print out this whole thread and have him set me up an ET. But the Terminator is SO cheap, and so simple, it was just irresistible. It’s no ET, but the one Vic made me has the last of the silver wire he had: a straight shot from the cartridge clips to the KLEI RCA plugs on the far end. I’m waiting to get back from Harry the TNT bearings I sent him for refurbishing with Si3N4 ball bearings I sent along, the Terminator going onto an Aries 1 (with a TNT-5 platter).

Agreed 100% Chris. Except (;-):

1- The Decca/London sound is SO different, and unique unto itself. No other pickup I’ve heard makes LP’s sound so alive, so much like live music, and that is true regardless of the arm it’s mounted on, the amount of wear on it’s stylus, etc.

2- Yes, the RM-10 is great on speakers other than the QUADS, but it is totally inappropriate for, say, Maggies (the RM-200 is good on Maggie ribbon tweeters, though). Plus, Roger used the ESL (and the Vandersteen Model 2) for his load in the design phase of the RM-10.

I love your -----> master/slave illustration! The room, finally getting the attention it deserves. I just received notification my carton of Vicoustic Multifuser DC2 diffusers have landed (from Germany) in Chicago. I should have them the middle of next week, unless the virus is slowing things down. Stupid virus (uh oh, is that joke too "insensitive" for the now-easily offended?). I’ll bet there are people who want it to just go away so they can get back to their, say, golf course ;-) .

Ah Chris, it is an RM-9 you have, not a 10. I guess I forgot ;-). I had a talk with Roger about which to use with the ESL, a conversation I can share at another point in time. Onto the Decca/London!:

My first Decca was a Blue, and I, like Colloms and Fremer, couldn’t live with it. I got myself a moving coil (A Supex, with a Levinson JC-1 head amp), and forgot all about Decca’s. I got out of hi-fi (traveling too much, never living in one place long), but was drawn back in the mid-80’s.

I discovered the writings of Harvey Rosenberg, who was just starting New York Audio Labs. He, along with Ken Kessler of Hi-Fi News & Record Review, were the world’s leading Decca fanatics and experts. I wrote Harvey a letter, and he looked up my number and gave me a call! He gave me quite a Master’s Class in Decca usage: the cartridge can not just be dropped into a system in place of a "normal" cartridge.

THAT’S why I have been using the Townshend Rock table ever since. The Decca’s (and to a lesser extent the London’s) demand not just mechanical damping (provided by the Townshend trough), but electronic as well. Harvey lead me through how to create a tank circuit to combat the electrical resonance inherent in Decca’s, which surprisingly affect tracking.

Did you see the review of a lower-priced London by Art Dudley in his Stereophile column a few years back? Worth reading. Ken Kessler has not lost his love of Decca/London’s (I’ve discussed them with him at CES, where I unsuccessfully attempted to get him to sell me one of his Garrott Decca’s) has been covering them for years; his reviews are of much more value than those of Colloms and Fremer.

And lastly, the London’s are not nearly as fickle as were the Decca’s. And the Reference---at $5295, not a "Decca" to dabble with ;-)---is VERY different. Just as the QUAD ESL is not for everyone, or all systems, or even all music, so too with the Decca/London. But for my priorities, there is no alternative. My first loves are songwriting, singing--both melody and harmony, and acoustic instruments. At that, both the Decca/London and QUAD ESL are unbeatable.

In addition, tomic601 is quite right: NOTHING reproduces drums as do Decca/Londons. The transient attack, the head-snapping dynamics, the explosiveness, the startling aliveness, the "immediacy"; the cartridge is the equivalent of a direct-to-disk LP, like hearing The Who with Keith Moon up close, which I did twice!

@pegasus, the Decca/London's are also incredibly dynamic. Think The Who with Keith Moon live! I liken the D/L sound in comparison to others as like the difference between a direct-to-disk LP and one pressed from a tape recording. They have that head-spinning SNAP!, that percussive attack, and a live music immediacy, that I have heard from no other cartridge..

For anyone considering a new London, get it with the optional Decapod, which replaces the standard, flimsy, plastic mount. Well worth the extra money.

OMG @pegasus, the Infinity 1001! That was my first pair of what I guess would be considered high end speakers. It’s price in 1971 was $139/ea, at that time about as much as I had the money for. It’s big brother, the 2000A (which contained the then-best tweeter in the world, the RTR Electrostatic, also used by Infinity in their Servo-Static I) was $299/ea, out of my reach.

The first Decca cartridge I heard was that of ARC’s Bill Johnson. Bill had flown out to Livermore, California (in his own plane---he was a pilot) to deliver a complete ARC system to his new dealer, Walter Davies. Walter is now known as the developer and owner of the Last Record Care products line, but in the Spring of 1972 had just opened a Hi-Fi shop, Audio Arts. Bill brought an SP-3 pre-amp, D-51 and D-75 power amps, a PC-1 passive x/o, and a pair of Magneplanar Tympani-I loudspeakers, of which ARC was the distributor. Bill also brought his own Thorens TD-125 Mk.2 turntable, a prototype ARC tonearm (which never went into production. It looked similar to the Grado arm of the 50’s/60’s---the arm "tube" a flat piece of what appeared to be walnut), onto which was mounted a Decca Blue.

I was a budding audiophile, having just discovered J. Gordon Holt and Stereophile. I listened as Bill and Walter discussed all things hi-fi, and got myself an invaluable education. The sound of that system was to me a revelation! The equipment available to hear in my area (San Jose and neighboring towns) was McIntosh, Dynaco (solid state), and SAE electronics, and Acoustic Research, Rectilinear, and JBL loudspeakers. And of course Bose 901’s. The common cartridges at the time were the Shure V15 and M91e, Stanton 681ee, and various Pickerings, ADC’s etc.

I dove into the deep end, getting my own ARC/Maggie/Decca system. I bought myself a Decca Blue, and mounted in on a Decca International arm and Thorens TD-125 Mk.2 table. The DI was at the time considered THE arm for Deccas, but with it learned that I didn’t care for unipivots. So I replaced it with an SME 3009 Series 2 Improved, and though the arm is a beautiful piece of engineering, it proved to be not a particularly good partner for the Decca. Perhaps because of the SME’s knife-edge bearing design?

Fast forward many years, after having long ago gotten out of hi-fi. I was now an older, wiser audiophile, and ready to jump back in. I bought myself a Decca Super Gold, and mounted it on a Mayware Formula 4. Yeah, it was a unipivot, but I wanted an arm with silicon damping for the Decca. The cartridge was too much for the Mayware, so I got myself the new Well tempered, and put them on a VPI HW-19. That was more like it!

I could have lived that way for years, but then learned of the Townshend Audio Rock Mk.2 Elite, a table particularly well suited for Deccas/Londons (in fact, Max Townshend used the Decca cartridge in his research and development of the Rock). The Well Tempered arm, on the other hand, was not (if you know about the Rock, with it’s trough of damping silicon, you understand why). Off it went, and in went a Rega RB300 with Cardas internal wire. I pretty good setup, but I knew I could do better.

Some further research informed me of the Zeta arm, long considered to be one of the couple of best partners for Deccas. And that it is! Nice stiff arm tube, excellent bearings, and a little on the higher end of medium mass arms. The Rock/Zeta/Decca is a real classic, like a Quad 57/25 watt tube or Class A amp combination. It’s getting buried with me!

There is a newish arm gaining a reputation amongst Decca/London aficionados, the Trans-Fi Terminator. The arm is a unique, passive air-bearing, linear-tracking design, made in the UK. T-F owner/designer Victor Patacchiola until very recently used the London Reference in his research and development of the arm, just as had Max Townshend with the Rock table. Some Decca/London owners are still using the Eminent Technology air-bearing, linear-tracking arm, too.

Robert Levi of Positive Feedback, Decca/London lover and Reference owner, recommends the outstanding Helius Omega arm. The current SME arms have their Decca/London proponents, as well. The common wisdom use to be that the cartridge was best served by a damped unipivot arm, but Grahams do not appear to be popular with Decca/London owners.

Here are two Decca/London related facts:

1- The Zesto Andros 1.2 Phono Stage has a mm cartridge impedance switch that includes a position of 15K Ohms, and provides 200pf of capacitance. Both of those figures are recommended by London for their cartridges. At the 2015 HiFi Show in Anaheim I asked Zesto designer/company President George Counnas if, as I suspected, those provisions were specifically for Londons, and he replied yes.

2- The Schitt Mani Phono Preamp offers four levels of gain, 30dB specifically for Deccas/Londons.

Brooks Berdan was a big fan of the Oracle Delphi (he even came up with a mod for it, which Oracle ended up copying), to which he mounted many of the Eminent Technology arm. But when the HW-19 (and then the TNT) was introduced, he switched allegiance to that high mass design for use with the ET, feeling it provided a better platform for the moving mass of the arm's wand.

In addition to Herbies Tall Firm Tenderfeet, the SIMS Navcom Silencers are popular replacements for the HW-19's stock suspension springs.

Michael Percy sells a product that HW-19 owners may want to try. It is made by well-known commercial isolation product specialist company EAR, and is named the Isoloss Sandwich Mount. It is intended for use on circuit boards, but the EAR Isoloss material has properties also well suited for turntable isolation applications. And, two of the sizes the Mount is offered in are perfect for the HW-19: about 1/3" tall with 4-40 threads, same as those used on the table's motor plate stand-offs; and 5/8" tall and in diameter, with 1/4-20 threads, same as the threads used in the spring suspension.

The Sandwich Mount has a short male threaded stud on one end (1/2", in the case of the 1/4-20), with internal female threads on the opposite, flat rubber side. Each 1/4-20 size Mount can support 12 lbs., so a set of four can be used with even a TNT platter-fitted HW-19 (whose steel/acrylic sub-chassis weighs 18.6 lbs., the TNT platters 15-20). And, the threaded male stud allows the Mount to provide height-adjustment/leveling of the suspended sub-chassis. Only $5.95 each---I think I'm going to order a set. I have the original, stock springs (with the little plastic top caps fitted with 3 ball bearings), a set of Herbies Tall Firm Tenderfeet, and SIMS Navcom Silencers, all of which I intend to compare with the EAR Mounts. Those interested can read about the mount on Michael Percy's website.

slaw, when you ask "Is the Hurst motor a springboard for (their) motor controllers?", are you speaking of Phoenix Engineering and their motor controllers, or VPI and theirs? It seems logical to assume that VPI controllers were developed specifically for the Hurst’s they install in all their tables, so I’m guessing you meant Phoenix Engineering. Design engineer and company owner Bill Carlin developed his motor products for use with any and all AC synchronous motors, including VPI’s of course. Bill knows a LOT about motors, and his postings on the VPI Forum site contain deep design details, a source of great information about turntables and their motors. The PE products are not only quite a bit more sophisticated and advanced than VPI’s, but also cheaper. Too bad they are no longer available! New, anyway.

As I do with just about everything I buy used, I completely disassembled the VPI HW-19 I recently acquired. Once in pieces, I discovered that the little rubber grommets that are part of the motor stand-offs that separate the upper and lower motor mounts had broke apart, a common problem with the HW-19, I learned. I replaced them in the manner I mentioned above---with E-A-R Isoloss Sandwich Mounts, a direct, easy-to-install swap. I also discovered that the table does NOT have the Hurst motor it left the factory fitted with, but rather a Bergerlahr, a German company. Their motors are well regarded, and considered to be of higher quality than those of Hurst. I reckon either the original wore out and was replaced with the Bergerlahr, or it was installed by a former owner as an upgrade.

ct0517, I have been reading on the VPI Forum about using thread in place of the stock rubber belts on their tables, and will eventually get around to trying that.

@ct0517---Well, I do own two of Bruce’s speaker models, LFT-8b and LFT-4. My not having an ET arm is the result of long ago choosing the Townshend Rock as my turntable. A linear tracking arm can not be used with the Rock, due to the table’s damping trough.

I’m of the opinion that a system is best assembled from the two ends inward---the phono pickup and the loudspeaker (both transducers) first, then the tonearm and the power amp. I believe the speaker should be selected before the amp, the amp then chosen by it’s suitability for use with that speaker. Likewise, the pickup first, then an arm particularly appropriate for the chosen pickup.

Chris, as you know, I am also a long-time Quad ESL owner, and I got myself both a Bedini 25/25 and a pair of Atma-Sphere M60’s with which to power the Quads. I chose the Townshend Rock as my turntable because of my love of the Decca/London pickup; the Rock is THE table for the those pickups, for reasons I won’t go into here.

I saw and heard the Oracle Delphi/ET-2 and VPI HW-19 & TNT/ET-2 many times at Brooks Berdan’s shop (Brooks’ two favorite arms were the ET and the Graham). But since I prioritize the pickup over the arm, and the Rock is the best table for the pickup, never got myself an ET arm. I got the VPI HW-19 with the intent of installing the spare Townshend damping trough I have on it for a second London. While looking around for an arm to put on the VPI, I became aware of the TransFi Terminator. I was intrigued when I saw a London Reference mounted on the arm in pictures, and subsequently learned that TransFi owner/designer Vic used the Reference himself. Since the Terminator is only a little over a grand, I thought what the heck, I’ll give it a try. I have no idea how it compares to the ET arm, so if I end up liking the TransFi maybe I’ll consider looking into it. Though the ET and the TransFi are both linear-tracking air-bearing arms, they are very different from one another.

There is a London SuperGold fitted with the Decapod (which replaces the horrible stock mounting bracket, making the mechanical bond between pickup and arm much more secure) on ebay right now. It has just been serviced by John Wright, fitted with a new extended line contact stylus. The UK seller has it priced at just under $1100 US, plus about $20 shipping.

The Reference has a much better housing (machined from a block of aluminum) than all but the Jubilee, finally addressing the microphony inherent in the thin stamped tin housings of the cheaper models. Is it worth $3500 more than a SuperGold? The Jubilee splits the difference, but I hate it’s looks.

All the London’s are improved over the Decca’s (I’ve owned various models of both, even two different versions of the London SuperGold, one with a Van den Hul stylus, the other a elc), with tighter tolerances and attention to detail. Better tracking, less sibilance on vocals and hard piano strikes etc. Still maintaining the astonishing immediacy, in-the-room presence, thunderous bass (better have a good arm ;-), explosive dynamics, and sheer "aliveness" Deccas are renown for, making most other designs sound "polite". Not as clean, pure, and "easy on the ears" (some find them brash, in-your-face) as high-performance MC’s, though.

Couldn’t resist Steve! I’ve been refraining from engaging lately, both here and in life. It’ll pass ;-) . A pretty good guitarist I’ve known since I was 18 was way more moody than I, and not too long ago drove his Chevy van off a cliff in Arizona and killed himself. He was drunk, but word is he did it intentionally. Suicide by driving?

The most deeply miserable musician I’ve ever know (a great guitarist and songwriter named Dan Bernard, with whom Los Straitjackets’ bassist Pete Curry and I were in a band with in the late 70’s) drank himself to death before making it to 40. Took Evan Johns ’til he was 60 to do the same. Another is a guy whose fantastic first album you may have: Emitt Rhodes. Very talented, very unhappy. But he’s a smoker (Jazz cigarettes), not a drinker. I don’t know whose idea it was, but the cover of his recent album is a photo of him looking to be sobbing. Weird.

By the way, fellas, the way to differentiate between a London SuperGold fitted with a VdH stylus and one with an extended line contact stylus is to look on the bottom of the cartridge, on the red plastic of the cheesy mount iirc. Hand written (by John Wright) in what appears to be felt tip pen ink will be either SG1, SG2, or SG3. My VdH Supergold was marked SG2, but my current elc-stylus SuperGold came fitted with the Decapod, with no writing on the bottom of the cartridge (it doesn’t have the red plastic mount, of course). Somewhere in the accompanying literature I saw SG3, though.

The Current SG’s are built far better than were earlier samples, mine showing no signs of oxidation on any of it’s parts, commonly seen in all Deccas, and even early Londons. My SG actually looks like a professionally manufactured product! I think it is fairly priced at $1500 (I forget the extra cost for the Decapod, but it’s not much, and well worth it), and requires only 30-40dB of gain. A phono stage with a high overload margin is a good idea, as it puts out a whopping 5mV!

Another by the way: the designer of the Trans-Fi Terminator used the London Reference as his cartridge during development of the arm, for what that's worth.