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 ?
128x128ct0517
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.
Richardkrebs
I did not say that the mass of your arm is “300% heavier at these frequencies”. I have said that your horizontal effective mass is 300% heavier than standard.

Your arm is 300% heavier than standard. You added 30g of lead and removing the decoupled counterweight increases effective horizontal mass above FR. These 2 changes have increased the horizontal effective mass of your arm by some 300%.

Since the removal of the decoupling increases the horizontal effective mass above FR - FR for most systems would be below 10hz, then we can say that the increase in horizontal effective mass of some 300% will affect all reproduction above 10hz.

As far as below FR goes, your argument is the cantilever does not flex below FR. I dont agree with this as confirmed by Bruce Thigpen in his correspondence. I have seen cantilevers flex on eccentric records and will post a video at some stage.

However the cantilever and suspension still see this mass.

As far as the damping paddle goes, Bruce Thigpen provides this option for the standard ET2. Thigpen does not sell an ET2 with a fixed counterweight and 30g of added lead. Your claims that one can achieve a flat response in the bass with a fixed counterweight and 30g of added lead mass are not supported by any testing.
Frogman & Ct0517: I feel the need to admit the fact I was wrong. Early on in this thread, there was a discussion regarding the sonics of "The Nightfly" lp. I've been modifying my wall panels and decided to replay this lp. My verdict is while it's obviously a digital recording, I can now listen to it and enjoy! Ahhh! CT0517, you were right, it was my room.
Ct0517: (While you all are on compressors),I finally took my Jun-Air to be repaired. I am excited about it's return and my thought to add the ability to expand it's capacity by way of an extra air tank. By the way, it's a 6-25 not a 16-25 as I mistakenly wrote earlier.
Richardkrebs: My "low cost" way to smooth out air pulses to null and at the same time trap any and all moisture has seemingly been lost in this thread. For around $100 one can have it all in a small package, low maintainence, HIGH performance in an "all-in-one" product. The Motorguard filter... the M-30 & M-60, I use the M-30 in my stereo system as it comes with a mounting bracket and readily accepts the fittings we normally use in this application. If one wants to investigate there are user forums one can search on line. I highly recommend it!