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 ?
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I'm a believer yeah yeah yeaaaaaah, I'm a believer! It's over 15 hours in on the Acutex. My excitement has me reporting back already. Right now, there are two areas my former Dyna set-up surpassed the Acutex. The silences or black background had a sort of erie quality before and the sibilances were handled slightly better. This little cartridge has replaced over $2000.00 worth of equipment, leaving no doubt that it's superior with this arm in a less than optimal set-up. The soundstage really is impressive. I want to say vivid but that might imply too much of something. I'll just say the performers are more "present" without being overimphasized, not beyond the front plane of the speakers. I feel it's more revealing of minute changes in VTA or VTF.
Another tip from downunder - I found plugging the pumps into isolation transformers rather than directly into the mains smoothed the sound out quite a lot even with dual pumps/surge tank etc.
Slaw, IME on Trans-Fi linear tonearm the M420 STR's sibilance gradually resolves over 50-75 hrs. What little remains of it thereafter is an acceptable compromise, considering the eyes-wide-open performance that communicates everything that's great about vinyl.
Regarding changing the cartridge with the air pump on- I made a simple latch that locks the cueing shift to the cueing eccentric when you don't want the arm to move around on you. Using the latch with the pump on when changing cartridges eliminates any wear to the spindle or bearing while also eliminating cartridge damage. The spindle, at least, is hard anodized, but it's good piece of mind to always have the pump running when moving the arm... even the slightest bit.