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
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!
Ct0517: Regarding my arm and for which pressure it was designed.... I found a receipt stating "high pressure manifold", remember, this was way back when this option was first introduced. This and the fact that I am getting optimum sound from exactly 18.5psi, to me, confirms the fact that what I'm hearing correlates to this discussion.
Again, FWIW.
Wow, when I post, I post!

If this has been addressed in the past, I apologize... I notice some choose to "hang or mount" their counterweights from the top of the I-beam. I choose to hang mine from the bottom.
In the past, (a long time ago), I A-B'd these settings and preferred the way I do it. From my logical standpoint, I would think hanging the counterweights below the center of gravity, from the spindle's point of view, would be the preferred method. Any takers?
Well, it's 2:20 EST and no response.

My last post. I feel if we aren't referencing a specific lp, how in the heck can we continue to go on as if there is something else as our reference?

We can go on and on about this and that but in the end we come back to the music. I'm feeling that this is what some may be afraid of?
Dover.
I quote directly from your post of 03-13-13

*********On an eccentric record the acceleration will be the same for each arm –
0.0024metres / (1.8 sec x 1.8sec) = 0.00074 metres per second squared

The horizontal effective masses of the 3 arms mentioned in this thread are:

Kuzma has been quoted as 100g
Terminator 80g
ET2 25g

The force on the cantilever is as follows:

Kuzma = 0.1kg x 0.00074m/s2 = 0.000074 Newtons
Terminator = 0.08kg x 0.00074 m/s2 = 0.000059 Newtons
ET2 = 0.025kg x 0.00074 m/s2 = 0.000018 Newtons

Summarising then you can see that the increased mass of the Terminator and Kuzma arms increase the lateral forces on the cantilever by 300-400% over the ET2.

Now Krebs has modified his ET2 by adding 30gm of lead to the spindle. This adds 30g to the effective mass of the "ET2. Krebs also couples the counterweight ( no spring ) which adds another 30g to the horizontal effective mass.

So Krebs has increased the horizontal mass of the original ET2 from 0.025kg to 0.085kg.
The Krebs modifications have increased the lateral forces on the cantilever by over 300%**********

Dover
You stated in this post that the ET2's effective mass as seen by the cartridge WHEN TRACING AN ECCENTRIC RECORD was 25 gms.

This is not true. The effective mass of an ET2 below FR is the total mass of the arm including the weight of the counterweight. Depending upon cartridge and wand used this will be in the order of 75 to 95 gm. I say again, the leaf spring does not flex due to the action of tracing an eccentric record, so it does not lower the effective mass at these frequencies. The lateral forces imposed on my cartridge due to tracing an eccentric record are much the same as those imposed on a cartridge mounted in a standard ET2, Terminator and Kuzma. If the cantilever is flexing when tracing an eccentric record in my set up it is by definition flexing with a standard ET2 as well.

I am sure that others are finding this line of discussion tedious and for that I apologise.

Slaw.

Thanks for the info. I will take a look at M-30 M-60. Does this have an air bleed as well? I am already using a combination 3 micron filter and water trap.