Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Hi Frogman – With all the cartridges you must have heard over the years on the ET2, thanx for confirming what am hearing with this Empire 4000 DIII cartridge . Thanks also for retrieving all those comments from that MM thread. Fantastic info.

For the the $350 -400 that I paid for each of these Empires they deliver alot of performance. I bought one on whim from following the MM thread. Having then heard it I figured what the hell this could work for what I had planned so I bought another. So two ET tonearms and 2 Empires helping me with my playing around with these TT's.

3 leaf springs and IBeam are still in mail and have not arrived yet. Will be keeping the Empire on and trying with a double spring as you suggest as soon as they come in. Looking forward to that. Then will be switching back to my favourite MC - in this case it happens to be a Benz Micro MC 3 which is SS Ruby Retip.
I have an old XV1 being rebuilt by Axel in Germany per the MM thread. Am anxious to get it back but very patient as he is hopefully bringing it back from the dead.

Currently listening with lead weights positioned as far back as possible on the I- Beam.

Cheers Chris

Ct, please keep us posted re the use of the double spring. BTW, I have been tempted, but resisted so far, to super glue the stylus assembly/carrier to the cartridge body. I did it to my ATML170OCC for a nice improvement in refinement. Those removable stylus carriers even though they appear to fit tightly in the body of the cart will benefit from the extra rigidity.

Apbii, my comment about clogged capillaries was a general comment. It doesn't sound like yours are clogged. But I realized that I misspoke (miswrote?) in my comment about the over tightening of the bolts. I was
referring to the two bolts (four total) on either side of the VTA block. I never asked Bruce about this in the handful of conversations I have had with him over the years, but I suspect that in the case of my arm it was a machining error that caused those holes to be tapped so long to pierce the manifold housing. Perhaps not, and all arms are that way so careful with over tightening.

David, re suitable tables: I first mounted my ET on a VPI HW19 Mk 2, upgraded to a MK 3, then a Mk 4, and currently my TNT Mk 6 (actually,
it's a bit of a hybrid. Mk 6 with a Mk 5 platter). That series of tables make terrific platforms for the ET. There is ample space for the arm, and the spring suspension can be replaced with less compliant sorbothane or cones which is ideal for the ET. When the ET first came on the market it was the general consensus that a non-sprung table was best; although I always found it interesting that the ET website and manual shows it mounted on a SOTA which is sprung. Another popular combination was the ET on the Oracle; and man, that combination LOOKS cool. Personally, I would look for a HW19 MK2,3, or 4(best) if you want a
moderately priced table. Not sure what you consider moderately priced, but an older TNT is even better. I am currently lusting after a Technics SP10 MK2, which I suspect would be a fantastic combo with the ET on the right plinth.

Hi Dover – Can you tell us more about this tuning of the ET2 leaf spring by torque ? on the compliance thread. Looks interesting.

Frogman have u or others tried this ?

Linear Tracking Arms Compliance Thread

01-16-12: Dover
Atmasphere, when I used an ET2 many years ago these issues were ameliorated by
Using as light a counterweight as possible mounted on a horizontal leaf spring. By tuning the leaf spring through loosening the clamp you could reduce the initial horizontal effective mass when eccentric records generate side force.
The other trick I used was to place a small magnet under the horizontal bearing tube ( not touching it ). This effectively provides horizontal dampening far superior to using a fluid trough. It was so effective that the volume of the preamplifier had to be reduced - very surprising.

Dover (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

Dover how did u attach the magnet to the ET2? I'd email u for a pic but can't yet.

Cheers

Hi Ct0517, I'm very rusty since its about 15 years since I used the ET2, but from memory I had an I beam with a thin metal strip at the bearing tube end. I packed soft strip ( might have used thin lead or teflon ) either side of the thin metal bit that goes into the bracket on the end of the bearing tube and then played around with the tightness of the clamp - I was able to vary the lossiness of the I beam from rigid to virtually floating. Then I settled the point that gave the most natural bass soundwise with air around it.
Re the magnetic dampening, I used a small cupboard door magnet and simply placed it on the turntable plinth with a packer to get the magnet as close to the bearing tube ( the moving one ) without touching it. This magnetic dampening is used by Dynavector on their tonearms where a curved horizontal metal near the counterweight moves through 2 magnets above and below it as the tonearm transverses the record.

Ct: As far as the high pressure manifols beiing "custom built", not, at least in my case. I had my (.5) upgrade done at least 15 years ago and Bruce did't ask me what pump/pressure I was using. I'm currently running 18psi,
Ketcup: I can run over 20 psi right now and not affect anything but the hose/connectors. IE: No issues regharding over 20psi into the ET 2.5 manifold.
Apbii: Any "soft" form of (suspension) in the VPI line of TT will result in a softening of transients and ,you guessed it, MUSIC.

OK guys, This is obvious, any rubber, compliant, suspension, WILL result in a overly warm, muddy, less "What we are all looking for" SOUND!!!!!