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 42 responses by nandric

Frogman, I become very greedy and bought 4 of those 420
carts but was devasteted by Raul's comment. To get rid of
them I used your (first positive) comment in my listing...
I forget the first rule for any component whatever: listen
first for yourself. I am happy to mention that I still own
the last one. But to avoid any injustice to Raul I need
also to mention that all (other) carts he recommended
and I bought are exactly as he described them. So my quess is
that his 420 specimen was defective. BTW I sold the one with
'your recommendation' for $200 to Vic from Transfi Audio ,
the producer of Transfi rim drive TT and 'Terminator' linear tonearm.
He was so impressed that he also bought one more from but this one for 200 Euro.
So, in some sense, I made a huge profit thanks to Raul.

Regards,
Dear Frogman, Your 'complaint' remind me of this story.
A satisfied client to his lawyer:'dear sir I have no idea how to thank you.'
The lawyer: 'dear sir since humans invented money this no
problem at all.' Not sure why but all my acquaintaces enjoy
in partucular to tell ME such lawyer tales.
Well I expressed my indebtedness to you already but I had no idea that you are also a lawyer. As such you should know that an demand or claim needs at least some legal foundation. Otherwise I would be able to demand from Chris
to lend me his beloved ET2 for a month or two.

Regards,
Dear Chris, Your willingness to lend me your ET2 is moving
but you ruined my argument 'against' Frogman. The reight response should be : nobody has the right to DEMAND anything without ,uh, some legal fundation. We are talking
about lawyers not about tonearms. However your kindness is
also suspect with all those warnings regarding the pressuposed knowledge and experience . I feel as if I need to get a degree in mechanical engineering first before I can handle the complexity and the sensitivity of the ET2.
But, you know, I was familiar with the linear tonearms befor you was probable born. In the 70is I got my first Rabco. But, as is usually the case, after some time
we want 'better than the best' so after about 3 years I got the Goldmund. For this one I wish you were there with
your warning: 'Be careful what you wish for!'. Your 'brilliant' co-member got the inferiority complex from this monster. The first time in my HIFI life that an
component made me cry and certainly not from joy. Then I
promissed to my self never ever to mess with linear arms. As a kind of 'sweet revenge' I now own 7 pivoted tonearms.

Regards,
Dear Chris, My argument which you quoted was meant for Frogman not you. I wanted to avoid any payment to him based on his copyright, alias the intellectual property on his writings. I used his comment about the 420 in this thread to get a good price for my 420 listing. We both made jokes about this so the real question is who was more funny.
To be witty is more difficult than to adjust whatever tonearm. There is no garantee for succes in advance so the only thing one can do is try. But I can see your point regarding your own profession. If one start with the 'worst case scenario' any other outcome will be regarded as success. In this 'scenario' I don't see any difference between your and my profession.

Kind regards,
Dear Frogman, '(me)Lawayer? Heavens no!' What have they done to you? Chris is confronted with 3 or 4 of them but is still kind to me.

Dear Dover, The most of us are already scared by linear tonearms. Adding complexity to complexity is a strange way to improve the situation.
Dear Chris, One may think 'one thread is not the other'
but I got not only 'philosophycal' but also psychological
(involving Freud) disagreement with Lew in the 'nude turntable project'. He persisted in his claim that 'plinth=base' because of the English dictionary (aka
synonym). I as a foreigner was obviously not aware of this 'fact'. That is to say that 'plinth' means the same as 'base'. Aka 'identity relationship' between meanings(??) However he also postulated 'the qualitative difference between a real plinth ' and those 'illegitimate footers'. But because my 'philosophical' opinion is that the meaning of
words depend on the context in which thy are used I mentioned my legs as footers and postulated the opposite. That they are an 'legitimate' base for my nacked or dressed body. However I also mentioned the possibility that in some future time I may need a 'plinth' like an wheel-chair. This I would think will mean some 'qualitative difference' with the previous state of affair but in the opposite 'direction' than assumed by Lew. This interesting (?) discussion was alas ended because of the irritation by some other member: no philosophycal BS in public please ; mail each other if you need.
Regards,
To remove whatever insulation I use aspirin. Lew thought for the headache connected with soldering work. But I am not joking. Put the wire on the aspirin than the soldering iron on the wire and aspirin and wonder.
Dear Chris, First of all thanks to remind me about the 'Moldovian plinth' for my SP 10. I totally fotget the thing. I use the original SH 10 B4 plinth with a very solid arm-base which is made from acryl layers gluead together in a shop where they produce name plates with addresses, etc. They use a laser for the purpose so my armbase is cut more precise than any cabinet maker can do.
Regarding your 'base' philosophy. Not to get involved in infinite regress or adding up of meanings, we all are moving at about 700 miles an hour, carried by the diurnal
rotation of our 'mother earth'. For your 'basic base' there is no futher reduction possible. But 'it' moves as Galilei persisted on and got in trouble with the 'mother church'.
As there are those who want to nail the meanings of words to some dictionary to get the correct use of language for all times (the English theachers ?) there are some others who want to nail everything around their TT's in order to sleep well: I deed everything I could think of so my conscience is pure. But alas the 'base of all bases' is still moving.
Btw I was somehow very fond of my own idea to use Lew's argument for the 'plinth' for my possible wheelchair. He is of course immens proud of his slate plinths. And because 'plinth=base' there is no better base for whatever TT than the slate kind. It should be counted as the real estate because of the weight and value.

Regards,

Dear Slaw, the problem is not only the clips but also the(thin) tonearm wire . Not sure if you mean Cardas PCC Deluxe which are very good but pretty expensive. There are also Clearaudio clips which are very good made. They are also cheaper; 18 GBP on ebay.uk. What is also important are those heatshrinks which protect the wire. While not easy to solder the Clearaudio clips are the best in my opinion.

Regards,
Hi Slaw, Use an old cart and put one tag in one of the connectors. Fasten the cart in an vice (?) and you have both hands free. One to hold the wire in the back of the tag the other for the soldering iron. Use first some old tags and wire for practise.
In the time of Hegel the only methodological 'instruments' were the 'cocepts' and the 'S is P' sentence form. So to move farther Hegel invented that each concept has its opposite while the opposites have their own opposites, and so farther. I see that this 'method' is not only used to describe things but also put in practice: 'try the opposite if not satisfy with the actual concept results'.

Regards,
Hi Slaw, They are 6x2 mm and made from beryllium/copper.
The shrink is 13 mm and can be cut of course. If you need
less expensive 'tags' for experiments there are also Michell Engineering 'solid brass /silver plated ' which look like Clearaudio and cost 12,50 GBP.

Regards,
Dear Chris, 'add up solutions' never solve any problem at
all. Try to 'isolate' your wife.

Regards,
Dear Slaw, yes I am 'an early morning listener' like you
but because I test all kinds of MM carts I am of course
not listening to the music but only to the test records.
I have no idea what you are talking about but
assume that you also discovered some cheap methods
to test one or the other. BTW I use coffee filters to clean
the already used cleaning fluid for the LP's. No idea if this
works but the idea is that if you do the best you can there is no way
anybody can blame you . Now what about 'my' aspirin?
Regards,
Dear Chris, The Serbian worriors already own or can buy an Kalashnikov for about $200. Those can be used for, uh, the radical 'isolation'. But the custom is to return the wife to her mother if not satisfy with, say,her cook capability.
As the passionate worriors the Serbians never missed any of the Balkans wars nor do they need any reason to start one (aka 'pure passion'). The result is an huge shortage
of young man while everybody like to have grandkids. So to get a son in law is a very difficult proposition. The logical or even more practical consequence is to offer dowry and other 'convenient' conditions to 'seduce' a young man to marry your daugther. One of those is of course the 'return warranty'. You can imagine the problems by parents with more than one daugther. So the Serbians also have the China paradox but much smaller qua extension. As you of course know no Chinese wants a daugther. Because of this fact the number of the Chinese population is not only a paradox but also an enigma.
But the Serbian case is more a look alike with the Spartan case. At some point in time just one worrior is left over.
My advice to you? You can ask her mother first if she still loves her daugther and than ask the right question.

Regards,


No idea how Dover and I got involved in this 'wrong thread'. That is to say with the wrong kind of tonearm (grin). Anyway this seems somehow connected with the Acutex 420. BTW also an 'wrong cart'. I am glad to have sold all of them.
Chris , sorry for you but Dover got a much better proposition(s) from me. The first was to compare Glanz 31 l with the 31 E and the second to see what his Andreoli MC pre can do with my Sony XL 44 l (Raul was very impressed with this cart). No conditions of any kind are involved. This btw is 'not done' among friends (grin).

Regards,
Dear Frogman, Those who hear such voices should, I think,
consult a shrink (LOL). I already have so much trouble with
my conscious self so I would be crazy to add the
subconscious one. Besdides I may get involved with Freud this way (grin).

Viva la musica!
Dear Dover, I am involved because of my friend Chris who is
also a 1/4 compatriote of my. Sort of. His parents are from
Macedonia a former 1/2 'brother nation' of my but he
is born in Canada and that explains the nummerical relationship.
Nice guy but be cerefull not to mention the room acoustics
otherwise he will 'furnish' your home: with damping plates.
Regards,
Dear Dover, I hope you realize that we are again in the wrong thread? Except of course if we intend to hide our preference for the MC carts from our MM 'comrades'. My
provisional ranking is: 1. Magic Diamond;2. Miyabi Standard (aka Krell KC100);3. Benz LP S 4. Kiseki 'Silver Spot'.
First of all I am informed by an owner that the Magic with a ruby cantilever really exists. So the one we both have seen on ebay.com is not a 'fake'. Second I am not sure if my Kiseki is 'Silver'- or 'Gold spot'. My has 5 screw holes on each side while according to some this should be the 'Gold one'. Anyway the cart is very fast and very dynamic, similar in this regard with the Miyabi. The Magic is, uh, 'magical'. Probable too good for some Balkanes. I would say really 'neutral' and refined. But only the Miyabi is in my main system at present .With Basis Exclusive, Kuzma S.R. the Reed 2 A, etc. The rest I tested in my second system with FR-64S/ SP 10 Mk 2 and Jasmine LP2. Hence my 'provisional' ranking.

Regards,
Dear Chris, I don't believe that your amount of TT's, tonearms, carts and more in particular speakers can be explained with your mom's upbringing methods. But I must
confess that my both sons whose education cost me a fortune still ask: 'do I got THIS from you or mom?' BTW my youngest (36) never say 'Hi dad' or something similar
but instead : 'any new tonearm dad?'
I think that Dover and I like gossip and that is why we occasionaly participate in 'your thread'(grin).

Regards,
Dear Chris& Slaw, I sold my last 420 to Mark but am still
'loaded' with other ,uh, interesting MM carts. If you
promise not to tell the guys by the MM thread I will
confess to prefer the MC kind. I spend a fortune on those
lately: Kiseki Silver Spot, Shiraz, Benz LP S and Magic
Diamond. The last mentioned really deserves the adjective
'magical'. It is of course not done to try to sell whatever
via our forum but it is also very rewarding if one can help
an co-memeber. Even more so if the person in casu is a
friend of my friend Chris. I hope my address is still by the member list.

Regards,
The designer/producer of the Terminator tonearm bought one
of my 420 and also 415, 412 and M 312 STR by the 'pizza guy'
in Italy. He was impressed by 420 and M 312 and not
so much by the other two. The 312 is still available on the
Italian ebay ( testina giradichi) for 45 euro + postage (12euro?).
I know of course that the Terminator is no match for the
ET-2 but both are linear so why not try?
Dear Dgarretson,If you called my 'assumption' the false 'authority consensus' I would agree. We are supposed to share information we have but this does not mean that we
checked everything in the sense of the truth value. I thought that the opinion of the mentioned desiger may be relevant info but my primary intention was to mention this
cheap and available alternative (M 312) for the 420 which is obviously difficult to get. My 'horses' are elswhere btw.

Regards,

Dear Chris, This thread begin to look like the MM thread. The

result of the last mentioned is that at present everyone prefer

MC carts. So it seems  probable that the participants in ''your''

thread will at last find an decent tonearm (grin).

Hi Dave, Thanks for your best wishes. I feared to be killed by the admirers of this ET 2 tonearm because of my comment. Except by Chris who is my former compatriot and not from Croatia. I see that you are refering to ''Electrets '' carts. J. Carr wanted to extend our discussion about MM and MC carts to other kinds. But, alas, this discussion never got from the ground. If those ''electrets'' are, uh,''decent'' carts, would you be so kind to start a new thread about them? I am sure that J. Carr will participate in this thread. I have no idea about them but this will not prevent my participation (grin).

Dear Chris, Everybody knows those two ''zero points'' on any

decent protractor. Then there are members who are able to adjust

their carts within the fractions of one gram and even SRA without

any other instrument then their own ears. But why is nobody able

to hear the ''perfect sound'' without any distortion at those ''zero

points'' at which there is no ''tracking error'' and which provide the

strongest argument for this ET- 2 of yours?

With all those compressors, tubes and other devices your ET-2

remind me of a patient on intensive care. The difference is that

you succeed to keep the thing so long alive (grin).

What is obvious to me is the fact that all owners of the ET-2

have such unbelievable memory. They can remember all the

improvements they made during all those years of trying.

Dear frogman, I assume that you learned in China the cryptic

way to express yourself. I needed to read your post 3 times in

order to grasp that you addressed Chris ''distante compatriot''.

Dear ''distante compatriot'' , I somewhere estimated that we are

1/4 compatriots. Who would believe that you count me as your

family member next to your wife in this context? Your LP's

collection is impressive but how do you know which one to

chose next among them? I separated my collection in two

parts in order not to rely on my memory. No wonder that I don't

own the ET-2 . Which improvement to try would be an

impossible question to answer (grin).

All 4 users of this tonearm can better in private correspondence
exchange their endless modifications opinions of this remarkable
tonearm. 
Dear Chris,

You obviously mean London Decca? Also meant for those who
are obsessed with modifications. I bought ''the other'' cantileverless
kind : Ikeda 9 REX. No hum at all you know. You as my former
brother can borrow the precious. I myself am already donor but
also think that charity has its own limits. For Decca you can ask my
''other brother'' Don Griffiths. For some curious reasons he also 
likes this cart. 
Dear chris, Regarding your own categorisation of the ''visitiors''
of this curious thread I would subsume myself under category
5 b. But according to my own opinion I would add category
''teasers'' and count myself as one of those. To put this cryptic
I like to tease people that I like. 
Well to me test records are ''necessary''. I own so many cartridges
that some ''fast adjustment procedure'' is needed by their change.
I always start with tracking ability test and like 60 microns ''pure''
but accept 50 if some carts (like Ikeda 9) can't reach higher value.
According to my German test record 50 Mu(aka Microns) is 
sufficient for any ''normal LP''.  So usually when I get 60 microns 
I keep the corresponding VTF as is. 
Asking which of my carts is my ''darling'' is like asking which of 
my kids is my favourite. This an ''immoral question'' (grin).
But I can answer the question about my ''darlings'': Allaerts MC2,
Magic Diamond, Ikeda 9 REX, FR-7 fz, Kiseki blackheart, Miyabi
standard , LP S and Urushi Blue sky. 




BTW, I can understand that persons like, say,, lew can use this tonearm

because we know tha he owns a cellar. After all he told us to own two

systems; one in the living room the other in his cellar (+ wine of course)

But  where should owners of this ''best ever arm'' put the motor for the

''air production'' to prevent the  nvolved '''noise'' ??

 

 

angellunna 122, According to me you overlooked the fact that

sigarette are more expensive at present. I would like to know

which (ONLINE) site?

I like disputes. Here is my ''first.''.  This thread looks like Wittgenstein's ''phylosophical remarks'' He made about 10000 while an ''normal human'' can remember about 10. Keep inventing new upgrades...

Dear dover, Who would believe that such a smart and well infomed person 

with ''strong logical beliefs'' would use ''richardkrebs'' as excuse for the length

of this thread?

Hi my former compatriot. I was glad to hear that you got an new home.

My hope was also that this home would have an cellar. Not necessary for

an tonearm but for your collections. Those are totally different depending

from personal (subjectiv??) preferences . Say our lew has huge space

needed for his TT's and you in addition for all your speakers. 

My only ''problem'' with this tonearm thread is this: ''are you listening to

the music?'' ''Af course not: I am busy with modifiaction nr.. 123 ...''

As you know I try to make ''Serbian jokes''. Alas humor seems to be culturaly 

determined . 

But there are other more curious problems . Zoologist,  for example, start their

research from the ''wrong side''. Aka from our capabities and try to convince

us that, say, ape can nearly think, count and even speak like humans. So no

wonder nobody in our forum not even Raul, Dover or even our scientist Lew

ever mentioned their  dogs  who have  better HEARING THAN THEY THEMSELF. 

Hi my former compatriot (again) . You should explain what Slivoitz means.

It is plum brandy made form blue plums the best ever drink inveted by

human kind. It helps certainly if one has sleeping problems. One can think

much better after good sleep I assume. Whay not Newtons instead of

Wittgenstein . I don't belive Bewton formulated 10000 laws. This nr.

I needed to refer to the nr. of contributions in this thread. But thanks

to my Slivovitz I got other inspiration . The question conneted with

''number theory''. Aka the Hume princple about ''corespodence'' between

them. Say 5 TT and how many arms if each TT correspond with, say, ONE.

As far as I know even ''our dover'' owns more than one. How can he enjoy

the lesser next to the ''best ever''? Lew I assume owns 5 in corepsondence with 

his 5 TT' s such that he get ''one to one corepsondennce '' between them.

If seen as SETS. I dont bleieve our Lew will be'confronted  with ''set theoretic

paradoxes''. I myself own 3 but FR-64 s ''twice'' (cooper and silver kinds).

I am very fond about this ''beauty'' primary because my lazinnes. I hate

''adjustings procedures''. They look to me like religious gatherings . 

There are no such easy to adjust tonearms like FR-64 S. I can do this

without thinking. I also have no reason to fear comaprison with my Reed 3P

nor with my ''better Breuer'' ,, aka my Sumiko 800 ''the arm'' with all 6 contra weights.

As far as I know by each harem the owner have had his preferences. 

 

Dear pegasus, when I stated to be ''on my own'' with MC''s in the context of

MM thread I ''forget'' to mention advice of my beloved friend dertonarn.

He used himself ONLY those FR-7 and give me advice to try. I was skeptical

because of ''esthetical reasons'' ; the headshell looked ugly to me. But I

suggested to have ''discovered the FR-7'' myself. I strarted with FR 7 

without  any post fix notation. Than try ''them all'' and fall in love with FR7 fz.

Still one of my beloved kinds but depending from the KIND of music I switch

between 3 or 4.  Those are the only ADJUSTMENTS which I make.

 

ct051,

To ask to remove my post for abreviation of an word that you obviously

understud looks like a joke, Any sensible argumetation I would accept 

but to remove my intellectuly  best post ever say more about

you than me. You are fake moderator and onbelivable arrogant. What

is you education? I was university teacher for 35  years.

ct0517,

Your comment about dertonarm say also more about you than him.

For your information he used the same TT as you but with FR-66 tonearm

with those FR-7 kinds till he produced his own (2( tonearms and TT. .

He produced two tonearma which he demonstrated in Japan before

Japanese experts. Than 4 cartridges and $ 500000 TT.

And you pretend to know more about tonearms than he. He certainly does

not need my defence. His analog  product should speak for him.

But that you pretend to know more about tonearms than he provide

prove for my argument about your arrogance. 

Than about methodology with 4 letters. You are of course not aware about

this fact: ''there is no theory independent observation''. I changed ''theory''

in ''presuppositions'' because ''theory'' looks to much to use for ''ignorant''

people Keep those endless ''improvements'' of your toneaarm going.

As I stated befor this threat looks like Wittgeinsteins's phylosphical 

remarks 10000 ot them . There is no better prove for  ''essentialist''

as I expalained Aristoteles ''methodology''. Shame you are not even aware

about ''your methodolgy'' which is called ''inductive'' that is genrelisation

from your own individual experience.. 

 

 

 

17,

 

Dear frogman. I assume that you are thinking about my post about

’’callling names’’ which I try to explain with logical means as

confusion between NAMES and PREDICATES or between NAMES

and ADJCTIVES which TURN names which say nothing about its

bearer in something else. But can we call expresion ’’traitor’’ as ’’calling names’’

which I try to explain as an LOGICAL ERROR . Aka that NAMES

LACK predicative function. However adjectives which are modify

names can HURT. Inquisition was based on religious dogmas.

Removal from our post can be seen in the same way. Cartainly

so without any reasonable ARGUMENT. Calling names is not

about argumens but more like ’’straw man’’ . Making caricature

of your opponent and ’’kill him’’. Or accusing your opponent with

some ’’wrong doing’’. I am not aware to have done something wrong

to Chris. He should think about his reasons ’’against his origine’’.

Some ''priviledges'' of ''knowing kinds''  are very curious. My  experience

with ''communist security paranoia''' about their own security can  be

comapared with '' Western paranoia'' about so called ''private security''.

The suggestion is ''for you and me''. Two of my contributions are

delited in two days time , obviously by some '' considerate members''. 

I was able to avoid communsit kind and think to be able to avoid ''Western

kind'' . This is my last contribution to this forum.