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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Hi Greg

I looked at it again and see that the pump has just come loose from the springs. The intermediate shelf looks solid and the springs are still attached there. What I can see of the spring mounts on the pump look ok too.

I suspect it was banged around or dropped and that pulled the pump loose from the springs... and then it was banged around a lot afterwards to nearly pulverize the plastic housing.

that is a little better news. the shipper must have had the thing close to upside down at one point for it to come off one of the springs? That Timeter pump hanging in its enclosure, reminds me of the pics and videos I have seen in the past of those eccentric vinyl guys (women audiophiles would never do this ?) who hang their entire turntables from the ceiling beams with long thick cables for isolation and to avoid vibrations. Thats the idea here as well and the first time of I have ever seen a motor mounted this way.

Look forward to hearing your progress with it. Cheers
Greg.

Good luck with the pump rebuild.
Chris has taught me the extreme importance of the air supply. A good smooth source of air lifts the arms performance considerably.

****Chris has taught me the extreme importance of the air supply. A good smooth source of air lifts the arms performance considerably. ****

Completely agree; and analogous (pun intended) to the importance of good clean (smooth) power for our electronics.
Sharing part of an interesting article I am came across today on vinyl.

(Reproduced in part from the entertainment section of today's Toronto Star Newspaper)

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Interviewer - But what, exactly, are we talking about when we say that vinyl sounds warm?

“The bottom line? As humans listening, we do not like square waves,” says renowned producer/mastering engineer Peter J. Moore, known for his legendary one-microphone recording of the Cowboy Junkies’ Trinity Sessions.

OK, so in layman’s terms, what is a square wave?

“It’s when you go from absolutely quiet to super loud with no time at all,” says Moore, who has also worked with everyone from Holly Cole to Neil Young.

Sensing, shall we say, a lack of comprehension on the other end of the line, Moore gamely tries to illustrate his point without the benefit of diagrams or hand gestures. (Any perceived ambiguity in his explanation is our fault, not his.)

“If I slap two pieces of wood right beside your ear, that’s about the only time in the real world that you would feel a square wave,” he says.

“That would make you jump out of your skin.

“Digital, especially MP3s, reproduce square waves like crazy. That actually upsets people! You’re triggering your fear, which also triggers fatigue. It’s unnatural.

“Now, if I was across the room and slapped two sticks together, it would take time for that wave to travel to you and by then the square wave has rounded off.”

And what does that have to do with vinyl?

“A turntable playing a vinyl record could not reproduce a square wave if it tried.”

Why can’t it?

“If I have a wire that’s one-inch long, it takes no time for sound to travel over that wire. But in the coil in a turntable cartridge, that wire is very long and it’s wrapped around a magnet. So it takes a lot of time to get through that magnet and come out the other side. By the time it comes out, the sharpness, the ugliness has been rounded.

“That,” says Moore, “is what people mean by warm.”

(Reproduced in part from the entertainment section of today's Toronto Star Newspaper)
fwiw - I found the analogy of hitting the two sticks closeup to your ear and at a distance very interesting. Never heard it explained this way before.