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 ?
ct0517
Pegasus, I lived with MGIIIA's for many years and, to this day, the sound I achieved with them in the loft space that they were in is the best from any system that I have ever assembled; with the possible exception of the sound from my Stax F-81's.  Apples and oranges however as the presentations are very different in scale.  That sound, however, was achieved only after extensive mods (completely upgraded xovers and rewiring).  Your description of that great ribbon tweeter is exactly as I experienced it and I found that, as well as upgrading the cheap wiring, the most effective solution for the "glassiness" that you describe was hardwiring all the connections to the panel and the (now) completely outboard xovers and bypassing the fuses altogether including the tweeter's fuse (I lived dangerously back then) thereby removing all that nasty steel from the signal path.  Transparency was greatly improved and as you point out this allowed me to better hear problems elsewhere in the system.  I have been getting very interested in Maggie's again.  Great speakers and IN THE RIGHT ROOM capable of surprising bass extension with an absolutely huge and very coherent soundstage.  I was able to get 28hz -3db in that large space!  Miss those speakers.  That was all around the same time that I bought my ET2 which is the only piece that I have kept all these years.  That says something, I think.

Chris,Harry, and all,
I have to amend my thoughts on cartridge loading. I tried 47K over the weekend and cymbals did seem to shimmer a bit better with no downside to the bass. I believe that the tweaks on the ET-2 have enabled me to appreciate what my cartridge can do. -Thanks to you guys for that.
-John 


Hello all,
Been away for a few days.  Drove over to Nashville for a long weekend of live music.  The venues were pretty terrific and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to listen to my system when I got home.  Not so.  Turned on the system, warmed up the tubes and it sounded excellent.  Not live music but still sounding great.  I think it does us well to walk away for a few days.

Frogman, I received the arm board. Thank you much.  Going to wait a while before trying it out.  I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing.  The mag arm wand was a nice improvement.

John, my plugs and resistors arrived while I was gone.  I'll try it out later this week but I've got nice tight bass and nice cymbal shimmer without brightness, straight into my CAT at 47k ohm.  Like you, I think my ET II tweaks are showing my Delos at its best.  
Harry

Glad to hear that Harry. Did you visit the "Bluebird cafe"? I'd love to make a visit.
I'm excited about a new acquisition, arriving on Wednesday. -An Allnic 1201 phono preamp. It's tubed, but uses a transformer based input. I'll have to stick with the lower impedance loading on this piece, as the unit has a max of 260 ohms which is what Jon Carr recommends with the capacitance of my cables.
This is uncharted territory for me, as I've never used step-up transformers on low output cartridges. I hope it's a step up for my system. I'll write a f/u.
Best to all,
John
John,
Tried to go to The Bluebird for lunch not realizing they were only open for dinner.  By then it was too late for reservations.  Good luck with the new preamp.  Let me know how it works out.  I've never used a SUT either.
Harry