Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

dare taken

Mod a product of insomnia and inspired by Frogman's post about using wood and getting the counterweight further out. The one in the pic is 5" out. Can't recall the cart I mounted, but the distance allowed the use of only the main cointerweight. used 2 leaf springs.

As I possess zero mechanical skills, the desire to try out wood required that I locate a more or less ready made item, hence the 'sushi-grade' wood, i.e., wood from the chopsticks they give at sushi restos. Didn't quite fit properly, so needed to do some whittling, and when that went too far, the addition of a shim.

Can't recall exactly the sound, but here's what I wrote Ct0517,

I had only a half hour, but here's the quick impression: harmonically richer and warmer; loss of resolution and less articulate bass. I'm unsure about the extent of the latter two since I didn't have time to dial in vta.

Never confirmed those initial impressions because, as an ET 2 newbie, I didn't have everything under control (still don't). So, it seemed pointless (excepting the fun involved and battling insomnia) to be messing around with mods.

Might be worth it to return to in 6 months or so when, hopefully, I have a better handle on operating this amazing arm.

Is there an acutex 420str bubble I don't know about? Economists will be dumbfounded by this phenomena, but those of us who have listened to it on an ET-2 can perhaps understand.

Me, I just wish I had bought more of these toy like carts at pre-bubble prices. Who knows, maybe the Italian has a warehouse full of them in anticipation of just this moment in history.

****I had only a half hour, but here's the quick impression: harmonically richer and warmer; loss of resolution and less articulate bass. I'm unsure about the extent of the latter two since I didn't have time to dial in vta.****

Banquo363, thanks for the pic of your chopstick/ET2. Your description of increased harmonic richness mirrors what I experienced with my wood (balsa) I-beam. That was the main attraction for me when using the mc's that I used at the time; they tended to be leaner and not as harmonically rich as what I hear in live music. The apparent reduced resolution is, for me, a deceptive thing because I think sometimes leanness is perceived as increased detail. I also experienced fuller bass which I believe was the result of having the counterweights further back and not because of the wood. While I could improve the articulation of the bass by adjusting VTA, it was easy to have bass which was overblown; obviously not a good thing and I ultimately preferred the stock I-beam (double spring) with the MM's that I have been using over the last few years. Speaking MM's, the 420STR remains one of my favorites and I too wish I had bought a couple of extras. Happy New Year to all!

Bravo to the Acutex 420str. The little cartridge that could.
Our Cracker Jack Box prize cartridge made famous right here thanks to Frogman, Bruce Thigpen, Slaw and others...

42 x 10 (-6) cm/dyne
1.0 - 2.0 tracking
47 kohms
Perfect STR

You know...this is how analog legends start......
Three cheers...

Hoorah...... HOORAH ......HOORAH !

The $520 US ebay selling price, these days is more than $600 Canadian plus shipping... :^(

This hobby (especially analog) continues to defy all odds.

Banquo363 - Me, I just wish I had bought more of these toy like carts at pre-bubble prices.

Frogman - the 420STR remains one of my favorites and I too wish I had bought a couple of extras.

I believe AudiogoN'r NANDRIC bought seven of them.

What I heard the first time that I put that little Cracker Jack Box cartridge on my ET was something that specs (as valuable as they are) seldom explain. The music MOVED! Sounds simplistic, but it's something that is hard to describe and very obvious when it happens. Music (when performed well) should have a very strong forward impetus that tells the listener it's going somewhere and is more than a series of temporal events; THAT is the main thing that good analog still has over good digital. I have not tried the 420 in a different arm (the Forsell still awaits), but I think there is an especially good synergy happening between it and the ET that I doubt specs can explain. The "groovy" quality of the bass is especially good; and as Chris reminds us "It's all about that bass". Perhaps it's the romantic in me, but I actually like the fact that in our hobby there always seems to be more going on on a technical level than we will ever fully understand or are able to explain; I think it makes us better listeners.

Happy New Year!