Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners



Where are you? What mods have you done ?

I have been using these ET2's for over 9 years now.
I am still figuring them out and learning from them. They can be modified in so many ways. Bruce Thigpen laid down the GENIUS behind this tonearm over 20 years ago. Some of you have owned them for over 20 years !

Tell us your secrets.

New owners – what questions do you have ?

We may even be able to coax Bruce to post here. :^)

There are so many modifications that can be done.

Dressing of the wire with this arm is critical to get optimum sonics along with proper counterweight setup.

Let me start it off.

Please tell us what you have found to be the best wire for the ET-2 tonearm ? One that is pliable/doesn’t crink or curl. Whats the best way of dressing it so it doesn’t impact the arm. Through the spindle - Over the manifold - Below manifold ? What have you come up with ?
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Hey Harry,
I'm not sure that a piece of godawful sorbothane between armboards would be good. Some areas are meant to be rigid. Then again maybe harmonics would not be crushed by doing this with the VPI? I would check with Harry Weisfeld before doing anything like that. -Just my 2 cents.
John 

Harry, got your introductory pm. Re damping between the boards:

While I agree with John in principle (I am not a fan of Sorbothane), I would, as with all this stuff, let your ears be the final judge. As I see it, because of the way that both boards would be secured tight by bolts to the metal subchassis, I don’t think that rigidity will be an issue. I do think that Sorbo may cause too much damping or you may not like its particular signature. I will include a piece of the material that I used when I made my constrained-layer- damping platforms for my rack. It is a very thin rubberized cloth material that is used in flooring installations that is very effective but not squishy like Sorbo at all. About 1/4 the thickness of the Sorbo sheets that I am familiar with and much more difficult to compress. It is easily reversible if you don’t like it. I find that there are few absolutes when it comes to tweaking, and as much as we would all like to think that our systems are "neutral", most tweaks related to resonance within and outside the system are perceived as positive or negative relative to the particular tonal signatures of our particular pieces of equipment and their cumulative effect. Experimentation with an open mind (ear) is the ticket, imo.
Well Harry,
There you have it. I wouldn't argue with freebies, but YMMV.
What a great resource this thread has been!
Cheers,
John
 Hi Harry, I have done the tweak that frog man suggested. I used rubber grommets  which gave me about a quarter to half inch extra height. Also as I believe somebody else suggested I think it isolated the armboard better.  Very easy fix in my opinion. 
So now I have a dilemma.  Frogman sending the extra arm board and Bruce sending the longer grub spikes.  Ahhh, so many choices, so little time.

John, you are so right.  Over the last month + I have done about four ot five tweaks to my analog front end.  All directly or indirectly the result of suggestions or ideas expressed on this thread.  Each such tweak resulted in a marked, repeatable improvement in my listening experience.  And, the level of technical expertise possessed by the people here is amazing.  

It is very rewarding. I only wish I had more to offer.  Hopefully just reporting my results can be of assistance to others.

But lastly, John you must develop greater sensitivity for the elderly when you speak of how old your "antique" equipment is.  :)

Cheers,
Harry (Grandpa)