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
Slaw's idea of using an agreed upon recording as a reference for discussion is a great one. As such, I would like to get the ball rolling.

While I am not very familiar with the musical tastes of the contributors to this thread, a popular and commonly mentioned recording on this forum is Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly". While not necessarily my favorite genre (post '50's jazz and any classical are) it is a great example of the kind of the urban-hip sound/witty lyrics sensibility that made Steely Dan so popular. It is a recording that some days (depending on my frame of mind) I think is fantastic, and other days I can't stand to listen to it because of it's slickness. The playing is unquestionably great on all counts. It is also notable (IMO) for being fantastically well recorded and produced, and great sounding for a purely digital (Horrors!) recording. I have the original Warner Brothers pressing as well as the later Mobile Fidelity version and prefer the original, with the MF having a strangely dynamically polite quality.The track "Maxine" is a favorite and there are two musical moments on it that I often use to test how well I have fine-tuned my arm/cartridge set-up. The track features the incomparable and sorely-missed Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone, and both of these musical moments involve his brilliant (as usual) solo. I will mention each of these moments in reverse order, as the second one is more obvious and less subtle.

The tenor saxophone solo begins at 2:29, and ends at 3:02; or so we think. It culminates with two ascending runs followed by one final short statement at 3:02. At 3:03, however, the overdubbed vocal chorus comes back in singing "move up to Manhattan". At that precise moment one's attention is drawn to the vocals following the saxophone solo, and it is easy to not notice that at the very moment that "move..." is sung, the tenor saxophone plays what is in fact the true end of the solo. He plays a one note final commentary, that is a kind of musical exclamation point.

When the VTA and azimuth are not adjusted properly on my ET2 it is easy to not notice that final note; it disappears into the fabric of the vocal chorus. When things are adjusted correctly, that final note is heard clearly and distinctly from the vocals; it gives that solo even more meaning.

The second example occurs at 2:51, also in Brecker's solo. One of the things that made Brecker's sound so distinct was the post-Coltrane technique of "splitting" a note. What is meant by that is that the player is able to play a note and make other notes sound at the same time; gives the sound of that note a very dramatic quality. The way it is accomplished is by (in this case) playing the high G on the tenor by fingering the G an octave below and sounding the harmonic one octave above. In the process, if the player has enough control over the instrument, a third note "E" can be heard; he is in effect playing a chord on a melody instrument.

When tonearm/cartridge settings are not correct, what should be heard as three distinct notes becomes simply distortion in the sound of the note. The closer I get to correct VTA and azimuth, the more distinct the three notes become.

I have always felt that one of the beauties of this arm is the ability to adjust so many parameters easily and repeatably. It can truly get the best out of most cartridges.
Hi Frogman – I just compared the 420str against the 15 IPS tape for the first time. The 420str so far for an MM comes closest to the tape in my room. Both LP and tape are started together. The input source is then switched between the two. The 420 str is more open at both ends, less compressed sounding then the Empire in my room. Now I haven’t compared my SS retipped Virtuoso to tape, but from a stock cartridge point of view, the 420str so far for me is very good. Its been on there for a while so I am going a bit by memory, but have no desire yet to put on the Empire 4000 DIII gold to compare to be sure.

Definitely for me, without question, nothing else comes close for the $$, or Euros in this case. But breakin time is required. I don't keep track of the hours.
Hi Frogman and Ct0517, I have been running in a NOS 420STR for just a few hours and am similarly impressed. Amazing performance from what could be mistaken as a missing gray plastic piece from a Revel model.
Revel(l) models! Man you just sent me back 40 years. Loved them! And yes, the Acutex looks like something that would go underneath the wing of my F-100 Super Sabre model plane. Glad you are enjoying the cartridge. It will continue getting better for a few weeks.
Dgarretson glad your enjoying it. The only adjustment I had to make in my system after listening to the tape was to lighten up on the VTA a bit as there was a touch too much bass in my room.
Mine has quite a few hours on it. I can tell you it just keeps smoothing out the more hours I put on it.
I am a little nervous about putting my MC on to compare for fear this piece of plastic that looks like it came out of a cracker jack box might kick its ass.