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
I'm sure that everyone who posts here regularly already knows this, but it is something I just recently found out: that high pressure manifolds should be matched with its accompanying spindle.

Unfamiliar with that tidbit, I spent two days trying and failing to balance my new HP manifold with my old spindle. During those two days, I lost half my hair and the remaining half turned gray. They reminded me of my opening days with the et2. But it was worse, because after a year with this arm (I own 2 of them), I believed I had the hang of it. The thought that I was back at square one truly disturbed me.

Luckily, Bruce is always quick to answer questions. The bad news is that he is uncertain whether he has any spindles to match with my manifold. :(

This is rather unfortunate (if it stands) because I recently acquired this 160lb bad boy precisely to run the HP manifold. I had been using its little portable brother, the Timeter pcs 414, to good effect. But Ct0517 has argued the merits of 'better' drier air, so when the larger model with internal drying system showed up practically next door to me, I pounced on it. These things require maintenance and it took nearly month to acquire parts and days to deal with a nearly inaccessible leaky valve.

But in the end, using it to run the regular pressure ET 2.5, it was worth it. Strongly recommended.
Banquo363.

Nice "bad boy"
What is the noise level like on this?
Could you say, house it in a room adjacent to the listening space?

Many thanks
Richardkrebs,

Ct0517 was interested in the same thing, so I measured the sound level. It sits in my garage and there's about 50ft of tubing running to the arm.

1. in the same room, from 6ft away: 64dB
2. from the other side of the wall, with door closed: 52dB.
3. from my seat ~40ft away, I can't hear it at all.

This is after installing after market 'mufflers' and performing the various maintenance items. When I first brought it home, it was LOUD.
I finally got my ET-2 installed on my VPI HW-19 MK IV ( that has the Super Platter installed ) . Due to the Super Platter being 1/2" thicker than the MK IV platter ( which requires a 1" thick armboard ) I had to have a custom armboard made that was 1-1/2" thick. Because the Super Platter is also 1/2" larger in diameter than the MK IV Platter I also had to have the top 1" of the armboard 3/8" narrower than the lower 1/2" piece so the platter would clear the side of the armboard. Works perfectly.
I tried my Medo AC110 pump with my HP manifold but as another member stated it will only supply 8-1/2 psi.
Since other members have stated that higher pressures than the 7+ Bruce recommends work better I began my quest for a higher pressure source that had relatively low noise ( I had my AC110 in a sound proofed box with a cooling fan in another room and I could still faintly hear it ).
After a lot of searching I found the Silentaire Super Silent 20-A compressor. It's very quiet ( 30 db ). In fact, it's so quiet that the cooling fan I'm using ( the compressor is only rated for 50% operation ) is far louder than the compressor itself. I have the compressor in an adjoining room and there is absolutely no noise audible. With the fan the compressor only gets warm at 15psi and will supply up to 50 psi though running it at higher pressures will cause it to cycle more frequently with an increase in heat.
The compressor is quiet enough to be placed in the same room as your equipment depending on what pressure you're going to run it at and whether you want to use a cooling fan.