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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Richard, it does get scary! I have not tried that, but I will. Thanks for the tip; I will report back.
Hi Richardkrebs

Had a very good Easter beak, very relaxing. Thank you for asking.

Was wondering, now that you know how the ET2 works, whether you had found time over the long Easter break to remove the lead from your arm, put the decoupling spring back in, dial in the vertical effective mass ( less lead further out for your cartridge ) and set the I Beam resonance below the arm resonance as prescribed in the manuals.

Frogman, Chris & Slaw have all found significant gains with the correct decoupling strategy employed. Frogman has reported significantly more bass information loosening off the end cap as per my suggestion some weeks ago.

I would be very interested to hear what sort of improvements you get when you get the arm back to standard configuration.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes.
ET2 ET2.5 - Aluminum Gooseneck Update

Just a reminder on this initiative. I will post a reminder once more in a couple of months.

I have received some replies and we have four people so far who are interested in aluminum goosenecks. One size fits the ET2 and ET 2.5. This would replace the current carbon fibre part that joins the armtube to the spindle with an aluminum one.

If enough people are interested we can get Bruce to do a special run of them. The price would be based on the number of people interested.

If interested please contact me at bcpguy(at)bell(dot)net for details

I am not affiliated with this other than wanting one myself. I am one of the four people so far.

Cheers
Richardkrebs
I don't have any first hand experience with arm pods. They tend to go against the grain so to speak, in the quest for absolute dimensional stability between platter and arm. That said it seems that there are many admirers of this approach and, other than to quote others, it would not be prudent for me to comment on the sound of something I have not personally heard.

The best statement I have read yet from someone that has not tried them. A refreshingly honest answer. Thanks Richard.

Anyone the least bit curious about them can check out the Copernican thread. Some "robust debate" there.

Cheers

Dover
" self taught engineering school of fabulosity."

You go too far....

I have a tertiary education in engineering. I hold an aircraft avionics qualification and a radio technicians certificate. I teach hydraulics and electronics to paying clients.

My company employs 52 people across two countries.
We specialize in the design and building of complex servo electro hydraulics.
Recent projects have been damper doors for jet engine power stations in Oman and Iraq.
These doors, 7 meters square, are required to swing thru a 90.degree arc and stop precisely in position. Fractions of a mm are possible. The doors need to do this at both high, emergency close speeds and normal slow rates. With the multi mega watt engine buffeting it with an air stream just below supersonic.
Get the Q wrong with something as massive as this and it either fails to reach the go to point in time or it shakes itself to destruction. We usually target just below critically damped to give added safety.
My public liability does not cover destroying a multi billion power station.
I understand resonance, Q, time constants, mass damping et el.
The survival of my company and potentially the power station workers and my staff depends upon it.
You cannot begin to imagine the pre qualification process a company has to go thru to be even considered to quote on projects like this.
Compared to design work like this, a tonearm is relatively mundane. Certainly a whole lot less stressful.
I know how the ET2 works.