Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

****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!

Back in the 70's I worked for a big dealer who had every known MM cart known to man in stock.Thousands of them.
The only thing that could beat an Acutex was probably the best MM cart ever made ,the Empire EDR-9 .
A 420 cost him about 40 bucks as I recall. But he bought hundreds at a time.

Welcome to the thread Schubert.

Back in the 70's I worked for a big dealer who had every known MM cart known to man in stock.Thousands of them. The only thing that could beat an Acutex was probably the best MM cart ever made ,the Empire EDR-9 .

Sounds like a real cool job to have. In the mid 70's I was in the middle of puberty working as a busboy scraping for money. If I worked for your audio dealer guy I may have been tempted to stuff some cartridges down my pants pockets (making sure stylus guard was on of course). I'm sure some on the MM thread would challenge your Acutex claim; especially Raul once he returns from his "sabbatical". Don't expect a challenge from him here however. From personal emails he never figured out the ET2.

A 420 cost him about 40 bucks as I recall. But he bought hundreds at a time.

Was he Italian by chance ? Lets assume "hundreds" is 300.

$40 x 300 = $12,000

$520 x 300 = $156,000

I paid $70 Cdn. for mine back in 2012 incl. shipping. I remember it vividly because it was advertised as a Puntina. Very close to Putana that I am familiar with so it made me laugh. There is that brothel theme again. The first time I heard the 420 I also laughed, then some singing and dancing. Maybe some of that later today also. Happy and safe New Year to everyone and its already Jan 1 in NZ as I post this and just after midnight as I hit submit here, Downunder. Cool