Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Since it comes to me at no cost I can spend some $$ on an arm.

The plinth is not an issue as I will be replacing the original Garrard plinth. Perhaps with a new plinth it would even accommodate an ET II, but I’d like to hear your opinions.

Hi Harry - for some reason, I am reminded of the guy that has an ad in the "For Sale Boat Section"; This guy is offering a free boat, but he wants $1500 for the trailer. The boat needs a new floor and seats. But the engine is ok. Not many people I know, know how to do upholstery. 8^0

A proper idler plinth is $$$$. Unless you have a shop and plinth building skills, unlike a self contained DD unit which leaves many options, there is a learning curve with a idler.

He had a 301 mounted in (believe it or not) a huge butcher block."

8^0 One way to deal with those idler vibrations.

I went down this path myself years ago Harry. Its exciting but I did not have the time, the shop, to acquire the learning curve. I let someone else do the legwork for me. Jean Nantais. Google him if not familiar with the name and my sample is shown in a few pics on my virtual system. See Pic 10 with the ET II on it. My table has an interesting history. It was JN’s personal table at one point. I bought it off a friend of his.

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Me thinks Frogman will have competition from Styrk and Harry on the next ET 2.5 auction - 8^0

Happy B Day Harry - my B day is this week as well.

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Pegasus
On the website of the Adanalog MG1 arm – which is similar to the ET2

Pegasus from what I see the MG1 has a moving manifold. The ET2’s manifold is stationary. Just this difference brings very different design considerations. Apples and Oranges.

@ct517 the design difference has for shure not escaped me - "interesting differences" indeed!
But in regard of horizontal mass, the degrees of freedom of the air bearing (not the details of bearing tolerance and pressure) and its placement relative to the subchassis and platter, they are very similar. That's the point. And this is relevant regarding suboptimal drive pairings.

It's no accident that VPI and many VPI users have converted their originally suspended chassis towards rigid or semi-rigid subchassis coupling, similar to many of the newer (post 2000?) turntable designs.
This design change seems to be of sonical advantage (in general) already for conventional arms – my experience ist that this is even more true with air bearing arms.Interestingly, if one considers the Trans-Fi design or the Opus 3 Cantus and simlar "short arms", they reduce this sensitivity to rotational modes of a subchassis, because the rotational force on the subchassis pulls more along the arm instead of lateral. 

@slaw @ct0517 
Yes, the solid plinths are outrageous.  Found a source in Austria that is about half what the US sources get.  It will be about a month to get the plinth then it's off to STS turntables in Nashville for refurb.

I decided on an Ortofon TA 110 arm.  Please don't excommunicate me.  I'm keeping my ET II.  If nothing else I can stare at my Garrard with Ortofon while I listen to my VPI with ET II.

@frogman 
No competition from me on the next ET II on EBay.......at least for a while.

Cheers,
Harry

If nothing else I can stare at my Garrard with Ortofon while I listen to my VPI with ET II.

If me Harry, I would first put your ET II on the Garrard using the quick install technique I described; then you can hear for yourself what the Garrard (the table itself) brings to the table. Apples to Apples.

Anyway, that is what I did with my Jean Nantais Lenco. It actually came with the Dynavector tonearm. Jean Nantais’ preferred tonearm. An impressive, freaky looking thing that Dyna tonearm. He was surprised when I sent him pics of the table with the ET 2.5 on it. hah hah

So my JN Lenco table is just sitting there, can be stared at as you say. It doesn’t bother me, not using it, because unlike digital DAC’s and CD players, it holds its value.....these days better than my oil stocks !
So I haven’t sold it off yet. Record players are so in vogue.

IMO - What you are doing Harry is a healthy audiophile exercise. I was happy enough with my at the time TNT TT, but My JN Lenco Idler table upped the game in a couple areas and forced me to make improvements to the modded TNT (adding thread), and also my SP10 DD setup (better isolation). So for a time the JN lenco, with the 2nd ETII on it, became a reference point for me. It’s been quite a number of years now . The JN table can be sent to him in Ottawa to have the latest updates made to it, but the delta that exists with the Verdier is just too large, for me, so I have not bothered doing it.

@ct0517 
Thanks for the encouragement Chris.
"What you are doing Harry is a healthy audiophile exercise."

Healthy!?  Healthy!?  Sure not healthy for my wallet :).  But, damn, it's fun.  I'm very anxious to get the plinth and have the TT refurbed and mounted.

Of course for a guy with a Verdier cost is no object.  Tee Hee.
Cheers,
Harry