Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Slaw, I must say that I a surprised a your strong reaction to the sound of the Fagen "Nightfly" LP. Yes, obviously a digital recording as I poined out from the beginning, but a good one with fine detail, separation and a surprising lack of digital graininess. I have never had such a negative reaction to it like I have had to many other digital recordings. At the same time, while I like Aja very much I have never considered it to be a particularly great sounding analog recording. Certainly a good one, but with some obvious flaws like a somewhat congested sound which is a bit dark overall. Musically, there are times that the slick aesthetic of it drives me nuts, and other times that I think it is a masterpiece of urban-hip studio production with a very deliberate choice of players for each individual song that is very astute. Anyway, that's the beauty of music, it can strike different chords in different listeners. If you like female vocals with a folksy vibe, check out Phoebe Snow's self-titled first LP. Fantastic analog recording and equally fantastic Phil Ramone production; one of my favorites. Keep us posted re your impressions of the Audionote wire.

Regards.

I found his comments about his preference for the ET2 with this cart to be interesting; I wish he had elaborated on the reasons why.

Frogman - when you contact Bruce maybe he can confirm this.
This information is from Bruce from his testing - it was posted earlier in the thread somewhere near the beginning.

The ET 2.0 smaller diameter spindle resonates at 5-6 hz. This applies to regular and high pressure 2.0 models.

The ET 2.5 which only came as a higher pressure model has a larger diameter spindle resonating at 2-3 hz.

If I have a choice I usually run MC on my 2.5 and MM on the 2.0 but both work well with either. The higher compliance MM's (imo - resonating higher) just seem to work better to my ears on the ET 2.0. Less tweaking involved in setup. So I agree with what Bruce said. With that I have the 420str on my 2.5 right now and it sounds great.

Further comments from BT:

(-why did you prefer the Acutex on the 2 vs. the 2.5? Does it have to do with the different resonance frequency points of each version?

-why would the aluminum or carbon fiber wands be preferable? I am currently using the magnesium wand and intended to try the aluminum)

****  In both cases, (the ET-2 and the aluminum or CF wands) I was looking for low horizontal inertia to match the slightly higher than average compliance of the cartridge. This component combination worked well for me with other cartridges with similar mechanical characteristics.
  With respect to the magnesium wand, if it is the light version it would be a good choice, if it is the heavier version, while it will work it is not ideal. I hope this helps, thank you very much.

    brucet****

Does anyone know how to tell the difference between the light and heavy magnesium wand?

Ketchup, from BT:

****The heavy version has a step at the back to a larger diameter, the light version is tapered with no step. The photo on the web page for the magnesium wand shows the version with the step. Thank you very much.

    brucet****