Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

I took my Sony radio cassette player and placed it in front of the single mono speaker of the school record player.

excitement and thrill of hearing this music and being able to play it whenever I wanted.

thanks for sharing this Richard.
it reminded me of something I wanted to share also.
as a kid my first music reproducer was a small hitachi am fm cassette player with a built in microphone. I discovered I could tape good songs from the radio onto cassette and play them back when I liked. Like you said - what power over the music. I was in control.

So I filled a cassette tape and all I did for two weeks was play that tape.

One day I decided to listen to the radio again. the same songs, when they came on the radio all of a sudden sounded..... not as good .... not like my cassette. they sounded slower and lethargic on the radio.

I couldn't understand why. I would figure it out later when I was a teenager playing with turntables. Although the tape cassette player was speed stable and sounded good - it was running a little fast. so the music sounded more up beat. groovy, livelier than the slower radio version. the cassette tape was speed stable but not speed accurate.

this is how I learned the difference between the two.

Hi Harold - high school in 1977...me thinks you may be my lost twin ?

12-13-13: Richardkrebs
I persuaded her to let me record the album, so I took my Sony radio cassette player and placed it in front of the single mono speaker of the school record player.

So nothings changed then !

Frogman: Your point is well taken and one that I failed to address: the possible differences in manufacturing processes of the wide variety of pressure guages. I do listen in a small room/nearfield which is conducive to my hypersensitivity on a wide range of issues. By the way, do you or does anyone remember the ET upgrades offered and reviewed in 1995 by Roger S.Gordon? He reviewed a (Montronix Acuflo Air Regulator). This is what I have, only the DIY version. It is way overdone for 'our' needs but the Montronix sold for I believe $400.00 then, I got the DIY for $150. In his review were the following:
Build-it-yourself-air pressure regulator
ET II Large diameter high pressure manifold
ET II Magnesium Tonearm
Damper trough
Bright Star Padded Cell

His conclusion for most Bang-for-the-Buck was the BIYS air pressure regulator. FWIW.

Ct0517: I ordered my 2.5 so many years ago and without the benifit of this forum that I couldn't tell you what mine is specifically built for. I actually emailed Bruce about this a couple of years ago and his only answer was that it is probably built for the way I'm currently using it. I guess this means no detailed maufacturer/sales info on file record. Anyway, all I know is what I hear and that's good enough for me.

Thanks again for your input on my compressor issue. By the way, as we exceed over 1000 hits here, I want the thank you for your vision and your extraordinary follow-through regarding this thread. It's easy for one's efforts to be overlooked. You are to be commended Sir!

Slaw, I remember Gordon's article well; that's how long I have had my ET. I was always intrigued by the Motronix and a couple of years after the article appeared I searched for one without luck. What I remember the article did not make clear, other than the claimed benefits, was what exactly the Motronix did other than provide presumably more accurate control over xthe air pressure? I seem to recall some reference to it releasing some air in a controlled fashion with the supposed benefit of a smoother air supply to the arm. Can you shed some light on this? Thanks.

Frogman and Slaw.
You planted a seed when talking about the Montronix regulator and controlled air bleed.
I have just teed off a 1/4" needle valve in between the compressor regulator and the second in line regulator.
The tee is configured such that the compressor output is fed straight to the needle valve and the second regulator is connected at right angles. Such that the air going to the arm has to turn 90 degrees.
The needle valve is just cracked open, bleeding only a tiny amount or air to atmosphere. This does not alter the pressure at the arm since there is a significant delta P between the two regulators.

If your regulators are of similar stability as mine you can expect greater solidity and dynamics and just plain better sound.
This test was done when the compressor was off so the air supply was ex the high pressure storage tank only.

Theory is that the regulator must be dithering about its setting. The needle valve, being non compensated clips the peaks of this pressure perturbation.