Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Hi Harry

" no hammer required "

hah hah ....lol...I like your sense of humor :^)

there is a pic on my virtual system of the three I Beams. I looked #37. Good number for a race car ?

It’s been a really long time since I touched the I Beam or changed carts. I have been just playing records.

I would slide the weights off the I beam first, then you only need to loosen the end cap bolt. The I beam pulls right out. The leaf springs are glued together onto the I Beam - become permanent. Bruce can send you loose leaf springs and beams that you assemble and glue; or he will do it for you - but only if he is around and not traveling. In this case there might be wait. Warning ...he might be flying around somewhere studying the hearing of another exotic animal. What a life ! Make sure you say Hi to him from us here. I still can’t believe he took time out for us to test out the 420str cartridge aka..cracker jack box cartridge.

I’m not sure what you mean by trough oil migrating out. I only use enough to just touch the bottom of the paddle. Unfortunately, I have never come across any oil in this Audio hobby, or even boating and auto hobbies, that is not messy and just a real PITA. You need to be careful around it, and I am not the most careful person that’s for sure.

In discussions with Bruce years ago I did ask him why he didn’t put the trough at the front, assuming the arm is mounted on the right side of the table. From what I recall he said it was too messy and too great a chance of an accident happening in front. Analog can be so hazardous you know, compared to ........ Digital. Until you maybe accidentally delete your digital music files by mistake.........with no backup .......hah hah

The ET2 troughs are no longer made as far as I know so valuable, to an ET2 owner.

When not using the turntable I keep the armwand over so the cartridge is near the spindle. I then put a cover over the back end of the ET arm covering the trough and far end of the air bearing spindle/weights/I beam. I keep an old record on the platter itself. Dust still gets underneath it :^(

btw - A very nice cart you have with that Delos.

Just got your response and still have questions but it's very late here. I'll respond more tomorrow.  I can't resist commenting on your last paragraph, however.  My lord you are more OC than me.  I keep a sheet of green felt on top of the dust cover on my VPI HW 19 to keep the dust off the dust cover.
Cheers,
Harry

Harry - my turntable doesn’t come with a dust cover like your vpi; so I keep the parts that matter covered and just dust the rest of it as needed. I do need to come up with a better system because the kitty stole the drive system from it last month. 8^0

No dust cover?  How do you sleep at night?😰   Ok, a little hard to see from your pictures, but it looks like I just glue (super glue?) extra leaf springs to the front side of the I Beam (the side with the numbers).  I shot off an email to Bruce and told him you were the source of my inquiry/purchase.  I'll let you know results.  

I have corresponded with Bruce a couple times over the years and always found him most helpful.  BTW, my brother-in-law, also an audiophile, had occasion to visit Bruce at his home/factory several years ago while on a business trip to Tallahassee.  He said it was a most interesting visit.  

I envy you with your two listening rooms.  Mine is 1/2 of our living room so there are limits to what my wife can accept.  😢

FYI, my ET II is mounted on a VPI HW 19 (MK III I Think) upgraded with the original SAMA, TNT platter and bearing.  I use the Phorpenix Eagle and Roadrunner for speed control.  If you haven't come across these, I highly recommend them.  They keep speed on my rig locked in to within .002 RPM.

Hope  I'm not wearing you out.  I'm a retired 73 year old so I have lots of time on my hands.  I have an interesting historical note on my preamp.  If you are interested let me know.

Harry

How do you sleep at night ?

When I first discovered the silk thread/string gone, I panicked and looked at the exposed tonearm wiring. It was intact. Then I looked for the cantilever on the cart. It was still there too. Sigh of relief. She didn’t go to town on it. Door stays closed now. Never did find the silk thread .....don’t know where she dragged it to.

Sounds like you have a well setup rig Harry. I look forward to hearing of the results. Myself, I would keep the trough paddle not touching while you determine which of the I beams work best in your system with that cartridge. The triple I beam will make tracking the most difficult - least amount of damping. This is just like a car on a race track with three suspension settings. Race tracks differ as do LPs especially the eccentric ones. The theory - We are matching the I Beam action to the compliance of the cartridge; at the same changing the resonant frequency of the I Beam with the thicker leaf spring (multiple joined springs) ; to hopefully be more in sync with the less compliance cart. Your ears will tell the real story.

I owned a couple VPI’s in the past. My first ET2 came on a HW19 MKIV with the piano black finish - suspended, but no speed controller. That lead to a TNT that I owned for a few years. My current main table works much differently. The thread is applied loose and the motor delivers shots of power to keep the heavy platter rotating. If I change the speed on the motor a little, the platter speed change does not register till about 5 seconds later. That’s how little effect the motor has on the rotating platter.

Hope I’m not wearing you out.

I really like the AudioGon sharing of info during the winter. Usually on here in the morning. The caffeine kicking in is responsible for all the detail.
Until the bears that Frogman alluded to, take me away in late Spring; the schedule depends on when those pesky black flies calm down. I can deal with mosquitoes, I can deal with horse flies...but those damn blackflies ...

You have me very curious about your preamp ?