Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Ketchup,

I thank Chris for putting me on to this. Adding some more weight onto the bolt so the weights can therefore be moved in closer to the spindle. ( It doesn't take much, I used the smallest brass weight provided with the tonearm and tightened it all up with the stock threaded adapter) Ideally you should add another lead weight. Maybe Chris will chime in here to help me out. He's much better with the technical reasons than I am.
The end result was a slight increase in transparency across the frequency range and cleaner, clearer more musical bass.

Ketchup – I had a look at your setup. You have done some really interesting stuff too in your system. You have gone in front of the manifold with the wiring. You were considering some new medical wire ? .003" in diameter with .001" thick teflon insulation. Do you have the details on it?

Chris,

I don't know exactly what wire I'm using right now as it came with my tonearm, but I think it's some kind of van den Hul wire. It's solid core, silver in color, with clear insulation that might be Teflon. The wire enters a tube that I added to my arm wand immediately behind the cartridge pins. From there, it loops over the platter and enters a Teflon tube that runs to my phono preamp. A copper braided shield covers the Teflon tube between the end of the "loop" and the phono preamp. The copper braid is grounded at the preamp. The four individual wires are separated from each other where they are exposed in the loop. This arrangement had the least effect on tonearm movement. The tonearm leads are soldered directly to the Lundahl step up transformers in my phono preamp. No RCA connectors are used. I should take a better photo of the wiring to show exactly what's going on.

As you mentioned, I would like to try some smaller diameter silver wire with even thinner insulation. Phoenix Wire has a lot of wire that would probably work for us. I doubt Teflon insulation over 0.001" is necessary, but I'm only guessing. I wonder what minimum gauge wire can we get away with using in this application.

Phoenix Wire claims that no order is too small, but if there's a price break for larger quantities, I'd be interested in going in on an order with some of you guys if we can all agree on the wire specs.

Guys
I wish we started this thread when I was off work last week. Steve - congrats on getting the virtual system up. yes the counterweight bolt mod. A significant upgrade for me was changing the horizontal/vertical ratio of the arm and how it affects the sound.

See the link to the ET2 parts blowout in Ketchup’s first post. I like to call the I-Beam the “plank”. You don't want to be near the end of this plank.

Have a look at your “I beam” and where your lead weights are positioned. What number does the lead start at?

For the newer owners:
Think of this arm as a simple teeter- totter. Physics says the lighter the cartridge will have these weights positioned in closer to the spindle. The heavier cartridges force you to move that lead out on the I-Beam to get the proper VTF. Its really that simple. Teeter-Totter .

If you put a heavier person on the teeter totter with you they need to sit closer in to balance things out – remember that? Well if you are the cartridge side this discusses putting a heavier person on the I Beam and changing the horizontal/vertical ratio of the arm which is normally 6 - 1 according to discussions with Bruce.

I personally never liked moving that weight so far out on this I-Beam for heavier MC’s. So I ended up replacing the counterweight bolt with a longer stainless steel one. (.75 cents). Also try a brass one or other non-magnetic bolt to see what happens. These details when dealing with stylus vibrations affect things greatly so pick a few different ones and try them out.

Counterweight Bolt Mod

The one on the right is the original ET2 one. The one on the left is my modified one. It can hold more lead weights. On some older arms this bolt may not screw off. You can get a new original lead piece that slides into the holder from Bruce.
This now allowed me to use more lead and bring that whole lead assembly closer to the spindle closer to the number 3 with heavy cartrdiges where I think things are more stable.

Now this is the fun part. Order even more lead weights from Bruce or make some – you can get them for free from car shops (wheel rim weights) – the lead is easily cut into shape and drilled). You need the longer bolt to allow room for the extra lead and to allow the aluminum rod to be tightened onto it to hold the lead rigidly.

Go ahead start adding lead to get even closer to the spindle. Those of you that try this please tell us what you think of the sound.

Before I tried this mod I discussed this with Bruce – this was his response.

Chris
Adding weight in this direction causes an asymmetric load on the air bearing so there will be a point where the bearing may bottom at the end of play position.
The other thing to consider is the suspension system of the turntable, you are adding moving mass, this weight moving laterally may cause the suspension to deflect and change the state of level of the tonearm. Increasing the horizontal inertia can cause increased rumble.
As long as you understand these potential problems it does not hurt to experiment and have fun. Thanks

brucet

Give it a try.

BTW – how many of you are using the brass rings as counterweights ? Read page 32 of your manual - they are for leveling only but thats another subject I really want to talk about too later.
You want to be absolutely rigid with this arm. The brass could move on the arm as it is raised and lowered and resonate. If you need to use the brass rings to get your proper VTF get more lead and a longer bolt.

Sorry for the long post and any errors ahead of time.

Cheers Chris

Away on holiday so can't do pics at moment

Hi Ketchup –
That phoenix wire looks interesting – is anyone using it ?

"the four individual wires are separated from each other where they are exposed in the loop. This arrangement had the least effect on tonearm movement."

You can see this in your system pic. So you tested it out both ways braided and separated ?

Is anyone else using the wires this way ?

LEVELING – heres how I do it. Can it be improved ?

Do not even attempt this if your platter/tonearm basic support are not already level. You guys with suspended tables – I feel for you. You are asking for trouble with this arm.

I don’t use the brass weights for leveling. It takes too long and you are also messing with the most fragile “I think” part of the arm. The Plank. (I Beam). I use Blue Tac and I add it to the top of the lead. If the VTF is 2.0 grams I make up a quick blob of the blue tac and add a touch more weight say 2.2 gms. Leave it next to the platform when not using it along with your level balances.

As the manual says you want the arm to free float.
Blue Tac in place. I position the arm above the lead in groove first and I start touching/tugging/poking the exposed wire with my finger. Lowering the cue lever a bit to see if I can induce movement. I try to see how much effort it takes to make the arm move. When u think ur good bring the arm to the end of the lp position. Repeat. This is where it gets frustrating because of counter forces. If your wires have “little” effect on the arm it should not move. In either position.

Now take the Blue Tac off – and try lowering the arm again at the start and end of the lp positions. Is it coming down straight ? If yes you should be good to go.
The wire effect is ALWAYS there you can’t eliminate it. What we are trying to do is reduce it. How detailed (anal) you are in doing this is the difference I feel between making this arm sound like nothing else out there or just a fabulous arm.

If your platter/arm setup is not level before you attempt the above you WILL pull out your hair doing this. Something could have gone out of level. Like the guys with the suspended tables. This is the main reason I feel most “previous” owners sold these arms. They are probably better off with pivot arms.

Can the above be tweaked better ? Is there a better technique for doing this ?

Recommendation – buy a test MM Cartridge whose tracking range is in the low say .3 – 1 gram range. Set this one up first. It will test your setup. I feel if you can make this one work well, your 2.0 – 2.5 gm MC will have no problem and will sound like it has never sounded before.


Cheers