Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Hello!!!

Coming out of my audio shell....

I've noticed lately that, the ARC/POST has an issue.

(This is an ongoing issue with the ET design)

If, you can look at your ET from dirrectlly behind. you'll notice the the arc block / post doesn't "square-up".

This is a disappointment! Bruce, (if you're) listening, you/I would appreciate a (CNC) type of mounting here.

This is where some of us, (experienced users) will have an issue.!

Slaw, out........

Slaw - I've noticed lately that, the ARC/POST has an issue.

(This is an ongoing issue with the ET design)

If, you can look at your ET from dirrectlly behind. you'll notice the the arc block / post doesn't "square-up".

Both mine appear fine. Mine also have a very tight tolerance. In fact Bruce highlights this tolerance level in the manual.
Have you turned any of the four horizontal VTA block bolts with the arm mounted. This may cause the condition you describe. You have definitely thrown out your VTA block tracking if you have turned the VTA bolts with the arm mounted.

Note:
The ET2 manual is the original one with no updates that I am aware of. It contains a lot of good info but is in need of an update . For example. Page 26 VTA/SRA mechanism. It discusses that the VTA/SRA mechanism firmness is set at the factory. It discusses how to change the firmness level. A qualifier needs to be added to that section of the manual that adjustments made to the VTA block bolts should be done off table only. This was confirmed with Bruce and is discussed here in the Nov. 11, 2014 post yellow sticky.

Retorquing ET2 VTA Block Bolts

I know that some owners have actually turned these VTA block horizontal bolts to help line up the stylus on the straight line. A mistake for reasons mentioned above.

Slaw - I recently sent my Acutex to Axel in Germany for a rebuild. (1000 hrs +++) According to him, the stock diamond is an elliptical. An upgrade, which I chose, is the Shibata diamond.

The word from Audiogon'r Nandric is that Axle is very busy these days. I hope you get your 420 str back soon and look forward to any impressions. Am curious if it gains in the musicality area but looses some of its groove/boogie factor ....

Merry Xmas to all.

Richard - congrats on the new ET2. Are you going to mass this year ?

Ct0517 - when I do VTA adjustments I always loosen the 4 bolts slightly to release pressure on the arc block, and then retorque. Indeed if you loosen the bolts too much alignment goes out, but you can loosen them slightly whilst arm is mounted if you are careful. By the way in your original post you suggest using the short end of the allen key - in fact using the long end in the cap screw, and turning the short end to turn will put less torque on the bolt.

Dover
Ct0517 - when I do VTA adjustments I always loosen the 4 bolts slightly to release pressure on the arc block, and then retorque. Indeed if you loosen the bolts too much alignment goes out, but you can loosen them slightly whilst arm is mounted if you are careful.

This gives new meaning to ET2 VTA On The Fly.

Before I drive down the road in my car, I make sure that the rubber has been mounted properly on the rims, and that the wheels have been properly installed and torqued on the car, before it hits the road. I don't touch the bolts after that. This is no different and the reason for the analogy.

Dover
By the way in your original post you suggest using the short end of the allen key - in fact using the long end in the cap screw, and turning the short end to turn will put less torque on the bolt.

The wording I posted is direct from Bruce. I took "use the short end" to mean the person "holding" the short end, which is what is implied. However you took the meaning differently, and maybe others did too, so lets clear this up. Here are Bruce' instructions again and @ Dover, note the wording below "'We would not attempt this adjustment with the tonearm installed on a turntable. "

Chris,

My first rule would be to use the short end of the Allen wrench as the lever for torquing any screws on the ET-2. The short lever arm will limit the applied torque.
For the two bearing blocks that mesh the pinion to the rack in the arc block we first adjust the blocks so that they are parallel to the manifold housing with a .060 -.090 gap between the bearing block and the back adjacent surfaces on the manifold housing.
The friction between the manifold housing and the arc block define the feel of the VTA mechanism lever action. We want this to offer some resistance, but not too much when a VTA adjustment is attempted. Turn the 4/40 x 3/4 bearing block screws so that some friction is encountered when adjusting VTA but not so much that the VTA mechanism locks up. We would not attempt this adjustment with the tonearm installed on a turntable.

The main failures we see with the arc blocks are:
1.The threaded insert on back surface of the arc block is cracked due to over torquing of 8-32 stainless steel button head post mounting screw.
2.The bearing blocks on either side of the arc block which support the pinion gear are over torqued which crushes the pinion into the rack and binds the mechanism, if a VTA change is attempted with over torqued bearing blocks the pinion turns and the rack does not move, stripping the teeth on the rack.

I hope the above helps

- brucet

Ct0517,
As you know the ET2 is a very tweakable arm. I run slightly higher torque settings on the 4 arc bolts and for this reason I loosen them slightly before adjusting VTA. Your analogy of car wheels is rather odd. In over 35 years of running the ET2 the arc block is still original and in pristine condition.
I did have some customers who managed to break and grind down arc blocks by over tightening and trying to adjust VTA whilst overtightened and indeed one customer who managed to break 3 cartridges mounted on their ET2 back in the day, despite adding copious amounts of mass...