Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Frogman..Good point on the wall mount, I usually check the TT level often for that very reason.
Ketchup.. Thanks for the tip on shim stock.

With regards to the damping trough... if the best results come from the paddle lightly touching the fluid, would there be any sonic difference in trying different weights of fluid or is that going way too far out in left field. Has anyone tried this?

Hi TheKong
Welcome to the ET2 ET 2.5 Music Lover Fraternity :^) - look forward to hearing about your coupling ideas.

I have an I Beam and 3 separated springs coming to me. I am going to try 2 then 3 springs. I quick look through the manual showed me no mention of multiple springs or trying them. Just the single spring - it it buried somewhere.

Frogman my two current I beams are not the same. They both have one spring but someone has added another what appears to be (folded aluminum type shim) to one of them.

From the Et2 manual - Page – 28 “By changing the weights used and the effective mass of the arm. You can change the low frequency performance of the tonearm.”

This tells me we can play around with it.

In my discussions with Bruce and it states it in the manual he has designed this arm to be neutral down to 5 hz with a medium compliance cartridge. For this is reason it is my opinion that the instructions in the manual reflect and support this.

We all have different gear/rooms listening preferences – you need to experiment here. There is no free lunch / silver bullet in audio. I have learned in the last 18 months comparing turntables that this is a vibration hobby and a black hole. My two ET2 and ET 2.5 were my best tools during this. We need to try things and use your ears and nothing else IMO to decide for yourself. BTW - I do not use the VTA scale on the arm. I use my ears. It can introduce resonances. I removed it.

Has anyone tried a brass or other material counterweight bolt and heard the effects in your room ?

I have been experimenting with the weights closest to the spindle. I have removed enough weight from one of my ET2 arms and positioned it at the end to compare. Frogman and others, have you found the very end to be best or to be just a tad in on the IBeam ?

Early impressions some aspects improved others not so sure. The multiple springs and the IBeam may tell the story for me. It appears from Frogmans experience that we need multiple IBeams for matching up cartridge compliance ?I see this as an advantage in Bruce' design that we can do this. It takes only a few minutes to change an Ibeam out with another one. I have been using this high compliance MM for comparisons. I got involved with Rauls MM thread this past year. It provided me with the means $$ to buy two very good cartridges to do my comparisons. I am familiar with the sound of it so will leave it on for this comparison before I switch back to an MC cartridge. The sound definitely got a tad brighter in my system with less weights out to the end. But other aspects improved. To early to say anything. Any opinions on this ?

I have received emails since the thread started. Some prefer more weight closer to the spindle. The manual supports them being out to the end as Frogman made clear.

I understand why when I ask Bruce about weights – adding/removing/ positioning he is smart to say – IT DEPENDS ON THE CARTRIDGE and compliance. He then said to have fun and experiment.

BTW this thread is at 1500 views. I can see this through the old web page. I cannot however see or access my virtual system page yet when I try to get in from the new web page. Any one else with this problem?

Ct0517,
I still can't edit my virtual system. I emailed Audiogon about it on the 9th and they said that they will forward my problem to their programmers. I'm sure they have bigger problems to address right now, but a few more emails from other users stating the problem probably wouldn't hurt.

OK, I did some experimenting today with my set-up. First I removed quite a bit of damping fluid. I heard more information coming through (air, ambient info, detail) and found that I needed to raise VTA somewhat, but things were sounding somewhat dark. I removed my added weight, slid lead weights outwardly to bring me to 2 grams tracking on my Dyna (manufacturers recommended VTF)set the VTA back to where I thought it should be. The sound has opened up quite a bit and still seems to have the dynamics, fast transient response, and real bass weight (not bloated). Conclusion for now: I used more damping fluid than necessary to evaluate my set-up.
When I set up my cartridge, I use the help of a lighted magnifying glass to try and visually set at 92 degrees. This is where I make my reference point in regards to VTA for any record.
I'm a little frustrated with the recent changes to A'gon myself.

Slaw, glad the changes yielded good results. You said:

"With regards to the damping trough... if the best results come from the paddle lightly touching the fluid, would there be any sonic difference in trying different weights of fluid or is that going way too far out in left field. Has anyone tried this?"

Yes, I did. And yes it's probably going too far in left field. Eighteen years ago or so, before I had kids and had a lot more time on my hands I actually tried, among other things, vegetable oil and hair conditioner (which dried up and made a mess). Bottom line: same results can be accomplished by controlling how far into the fluid the paddle goes. BTW, you don't need to remove or add fluid. Simply turn the paddle one way or the other with needle-nose pliers to raise or lower it.