Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Hi Frogman - as Pegasus said the leaves are turning, some brilliant colors. It marks the transition soon from summer cottaging up north to some serious music listening coming up to help me get through the winter.

Pegasus - From your last post you must have quite the space to be able to hold concerts. I miss my daughters daily piano solos while she is away most of the year at school. When you mention customers and repair, modifications to Magnepan, do you have an electronics business of some type?

Many good points - the "minimal torque" a key one that was discussed here early on and Frogman indeed stressed it initially. If I may share some experiences with this "minimal torque" and it directly relates to your comment;

If I only touch the VTA adjustment a bit on *my* ET2 - the side-leveling is severely off. If it's not, I was lucky. To check is better than to believe...

The coffee has not kicked in yet so pls excuse any rambling. If I really start going you know the coffee is starting to work.

My first ET2 over 10 years ago now that came on a VPI HW19 MKIV.

From my other tonearms in the past including Technics, SME, VPI's, Dynavector, FR64s, etc... they all come/came with a flat surface mount. They are relying on the partner table to be level. This is not good. Turntables are crude devices. Many plinths/armboards not level with the turning platter. The cartridge is always the end victim. The ET2(.5) as we know have a genius grommet 3 spike mount. They could be mounted on the Leaning Tower of Pisa if need be. However the spikes WILL dig in over time if the surface is not hard, which causes the Pillar of the arm to go out of level. I have seen people mount them directly on hardwood. Not good. The VPI tables came with an aluminum plate to prevent marring of acrylic. Never great IMO to add layers but there was no choice and business (selling the tables/tonearm combo at the time) meant it had to be done. The spikes can be shaved down to allow for removal of the plate and naked mounting on the acrylic. ET2's mounted naked on a hard surface are much better sounding to me. Multiple layering of armboard materials - UGH ! And then some put layers on their platters too...

sorry to ramble; ok that first table VPI HW19 MKIV / ET2 I got, the previous owner could not get the ET2 to work. Long story short it was set up bad and the pump was down 1/2 psi - could not complete the last grooves of a record. I got another pump, which allowed for whole lps to be played; the sound in its as is condition still trumped the VPI JMW 12 inch arm at the time. I used it for a while then decided to take it apart. I discovered the two vertical bolts that level the arm on the VTA pillar were tightened down so much by (previous owner/s and my short use to that time) that they had put two bolt indents in the base below. Imagine the stress put on by the bolts. This was truly the opposite of minimal torquing.

These Two Vertical Leveling bolts are an operational dilemma with the ET2. Owners set them up initially and everything seems fine. Then over time with cartridge changes, bumping or moving the table, room seasonal structural changes to wood beams, etc ... things go out of level a bit and the vertical bolts need small adjustments over time. Owners give the vertical bolts a touch of a turn here and there not realizing the bolts are already putting pressure down. They go away on holidays. Come back... more listening. There is no way one can remember how much torque is on those bolts. A little more adjusting here and there. This ends up stressing the plate below, and could deform it. You will never get the patented VTA to work ! So this is a mistake not in initial setup, but from an ongoing operation. A possible outcome if not observed and it is not covered in the manual. One person I know did not realize how much force he had placed on the plate below and he ended up actually cracking it.

How I solved this problem was easy (like some things in our lives) Simple awareness and a habit change. If a level adjustment is needed, take 30 seconds and undo the torque on each vertical bolt; then re-apply this "minimal torque" as required on each bolt, as if setting them for the first time. This takes 2 minutes total time to do. This is very important and has worked well for me.

If you have mounted the ET2 spikes on wood direct - you will never get the table/Et2 and the VTA to work properly as the spikes will dig in over time causing a shift with the different tensions used to get level initially. My two ET2(.5) are mounted naked on a solid brass billet pod with the SP10MKII, and on the Aluminum solid billet pod on the La Platine Granito Verdier (Mr. JC Verdier- RIP)

Both are bolted down to the plinths below. The VTA works the pillar stays level. Metal ET2 spikes on a metal armboard.

IMO - success with any analog rig regardless of the cost point comes from the setup and paying special attention to the details. One more detail - The one ET2 (.5) threaded mounting hole is filled with oil prior to inserting the bolt. If you are using a wood armboard do not put oil in it.

For non-Et2 owners reading, the vertical bolts referenced in the previous post can be seen here click me

They are circled in red.
Also - when I do setup on the 2.5 it is always without the wiring. The wiring gets added after. IMO - the only way to fully understand (if you are little anal and want to know) how much of an affect the wiring has is to follow this process.
When I used to set up with the wiring, the wiring push / pull caused the post leveling to be off a bit. The effects was different with different wires. With the mounting post doing its impression of the Leaning Tower of Pisa - it means your VTA adjustments are thrown out.

Cheers and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Enjoy the colors, Chris.

Hi Ct & Frogman!
"My place" is a historical house we run as a hostel, with a cultural program (which I organize with a few friends). The remaining time (not much) & energy (still enough) is spent on hifi and developing concepts & ideas. This has a company name and is actually more like a small personal counseling service to customers (who often are or became friends).
And I play in an amateur wind-instrument band.

And yes, Frogman, I read about and appreciated your similar experience with the screw torque. (And the sax (?) playing).

You're right with the several modes to mis-tune an ET2. It needs a bit of 3D operational understanding and then every screw (inside the brain too) falls into its place.
I leave the basic side-ways adjustment (the two posts) with very low torque, and keep the locking tilt screw fixed. I do lateral (and vertical) fine-tuning with the tripod screws in a balanced way: up one, down the other. The torque on the central pillar fixing screw stays the same this way.
I think it is really moving the VTA lever itself which dis-balances the arm a bit and the mechanism is not quite keeping the arm quite level. I pull the VTA lever with one finger using the bearing as a base, so there are (almost) no forces going to the plinth and the connection to it.
I "feel" the same about less interfaces is more (underneath the Tiptoes). But I got good results with small single steel pieces underneath the tiptoes. I think a whole steel or alu plate is less desirable. I will look to improve on this in my actual ad-hoc installation, which has a few things to improve.
BTW another tweak I use is trapezoid wedges of cardboard which I slide in (vertical) underneath both ends of the bearing housing (or damping trough) until they slightly lock the bearing to the plinth. This absorbs any horizontal elastic movement of the bearing on top of the pillar. They have to be applied with plyers, and should put symmetrical force to not unbalance the arm. I do this after having found my preferred settings (... :-)

You're right with the several modes to mis-tune an ET2. It needs a bit of 3D operational understanding and then every screw (inside the brain too) falls into its place.

Brilliant, such an abstract thought and very well said. Set up requires very out of the box thinking. Imo –we are not talking about trying to put the round peg in round hole here. The records are very imperfect things and have not changed since the beginning of time. The ET2 has been built as a slave to the record. Trying to go rigid in every aspect of a tonearm’s construction will not work when the source is so Flexible ! ok my opinion again. Moving around off centered, up and down ! Lets remember the stylus changes /modifies the actual vinyl for a temporary period and a cooling period is required for it to go back to shape. Do you want your tonearm to be a big heavy stick or a delicate wand.

Also repeat setup of the ET2 will not make the brain kick into gear - imo. I tend to just repeat old habits over and over this way. One needs to have reached a comfortable level with the ET2 first. You need to be relaxed, sit back and while enjoying some music you look over at the arm working in such precision on the record and then it just clicks. You will know when these moments happen. It requires patience, calm and time/experience.

Readers are wondering why the hell go to all this trouble for a bloody tonearm. After all I can plunk :^) down my Dynavector 505 tonearm on any plinth or armboard - unscrewed - and just based on its immense weight get music playing by design. But - like I told an audio friend recently who is in the initial setup of his ET2; once you have had your first good run with familiar music - you are hooked. The sounds you hear snap into play and flow. Like water from a pipe. The Endorphins flow :^)

BTW another tweak I use is trapezoid wedges of cardboard which I slide in (vertical) underneath both ends of the bearing housing (or damping trough) until they slightly lock the bearing to the plinth. This absorbs any horizontal elastic movement of the bearing on top of the pillar. They have to be applied with plyers, and should put symmetrical force to not unbalance the arm.

Very interesting thx for sharing.

Frogman - Enjoy the Colors

Frogman – where we are (like other places I assume) the leaves are enjoyed for their beauty, shade and then the burst of colors before they fall and depending on where you live a problem if they need to bagged or recycled.
It is my understanding from (internet reading) that in Japan the leaves are battered, deep fired and eaten ? Can anyone with real experience here provide more information. A recipe maybe - :^)
The oak leaves take forever to fall and come spring are still there !