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Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners


Where are you? What mods have you done ?

I have been using these ET2's for over 9 years now.
I am still figuring them out and learning from them. They can be modified in so many ways. Bruce Thigpen laid down the GENIUS behind this tonearm over 20 years ago. Some of you have owned them for over 20 years !

Tell us your secrets.

New owners – what questions do you have ?

We may even be able to coax Bruce to post here. :^)

There are so many modifications that can be done.

Dressing of the wire with this arm is critical to get optimum sonics along with proper counterweight setup.

Let me start it off.

Please tell us what you have found to be the best wire for the ET-2 tonearm ? One that is pliable/doesn’t crink or curl. Whats the best way of dressing it so it doesn’t impact the arm. Through the spindle - Over the manifold - Below manifold ? What have you come up with ?
128x128ct0517

Showing 5 responses by lewm

lewm
12,515 posts
 
Guys, I was under the impression that the MM cognoscenti had rapidly moved past the Acutex 420, following its appearance and then disappearance in the market place. I know that Raul was not enchanted by it and seemed to far prefer his "blunt nose" 3XX series Acutex, which he likes even better than the late pointy 3XX series. Do these posts represent a renaissance of the STR420? I caved in and bought one too, from Italy. It still rests in its original box, because of the underwhelming remarks made on the MM thread. Was going to sell it, once I can overcome my inertia.

Has any Acutex-ian tried the Saturn V headshell? It may not fit the 4XX series; it was made for the late 3XX series.
lewm
12,515 posts
 
Ct, Long ago I decided to take the ascetic route as regards a few basic principles in my audio system:
(1) No air bearing SL tonearms, because of the fuss involved and the ugly accessories needed.
(2) No bi- or tri-amplification and therefore no multi-speaker ensemble. (See above for why.)
(3) No subwoofer. (See also above.)
(4) No 2-box CD system, one single box CDP only.

Of course, observing these mandates led to a gigantic pair of ESLs, huge monoblock tube amplifiers that require two AC cords, each, and a preamp requiring a large extra chassis for its power supply. Not to mention those turntables that I forgot to make a rule about. And a car battery to run my CDP.

I gotta admit, the Terminator (but not the ET2) has me sorely tempted to break rule #1.
lewm
12,515 posts
 
Frogman and other SL tonearm devotee's: I would think you are defeating one of the prime advantages of an SL tonearm by deliberately setting the stylus so that it is not on the radius of the LP (a line from the outer edge through the center of the spindle). By not doing that, you have a small but constant amount of tracking angle error at all points across the surface, and like Dave said, you have introduced some skating force for which you cannot compensate (no AS on an SL tonearm). However, as Duke said, if it sounds good, it IS good.
lewm
12,515 posts
 
The seller has no feedback, AND it's Audiogon. Also, altho it's a rare collectible and there is no real market value, the asking price is about 2X recent sales prices for this item of which I am aware.
lewm
12,515 posts
 

I normally don’t contribute to this thread, because I do not own and have never owned an ET2 or 2.5. However, I concede that it is probably a great tonearm. But when you speak of Newton, keep in mind that the net force exerted by a small weight at the end of a long lever That is required to balance a cartridge at a specific VTF will be the same as the force generated when you use a larger weight mounted closer to the pivot or fulcrum. Therefore I am wondering why mounting a large weight close to the pivot point makes any difference as far as overcoming the air pressure and collapsing the air suspension , Assuming the same VTF is thereby achieved in both cases.

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