Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Harry
the previous post was from Dover. I do not use magnets on my 2.5.

FYI and FWIW
Some years ago, Bruce was intrigued about our experiments when I asked him about this. So much so that he did try it himself.

Feb 2013
  Chris,

I tried this with neodymium magnets and the resistive force is extremely low, almost nothing, the velocity of the spindle would need to be much higher to induce back emf. It is a neat concept and I would like for this to work because it is very simple and easy to implement, but the measured force applied to the spindle is so low that nothing happens to the frequency response of the cartridge at resonance. I hope this helps.

    brucet

When I asked him about how it was possible that people were hearing differences

......audiophiles believe quite a bit that is unexplainable from a science point of view, so yes it can be so.

    brucet

IMO - This topic goes "Into the Dark" category as far as Audiophilia is concerned. You will find supporters on each side. 
   
Now the magnetic damping happening with my turntable is indeed real. Two large magnets bottom one stationary, top one moving fast enough to produce by design - a braking effect - to deal with the records behavior.
See the gold rings in picture number 5 of my virtual system. 

Should be back home mid week will check the mail. 

Chris/Harry
Interesting Bruces comments. What was not imagined from using magnets for eddy current damping in my system was increased volume, I had to turn the volume down. I used cupboard door magnets - 2 in parallel underneath. Bear in mind the eddy currents are only induced when the arm moves - i.e. it only comes into effect with eccentric records. If the record is not eccentric then there would be no difference.

Dynavector uses the same principle with their biaxial arms  
http://www.dynavector.com/products/tonearm/e_507mk2.html
 

Bruce's long I Beam update (yes, Chris, the plank :)

Went by my mechanic this morning and picked up a couple of wheel weights.  I was able to fashion one to fit in the slot where the first weight goes.  I am now out to about 1/8 - 1/4 inch from the end of the plank and the music keeps getting better and better.  My Delos now has a mid range bloom and richness I did not previously think was possible from a Lyra.  

Lyras have that wonderful upper extension that we detail nuts crave.  However, I have often thought that my Delos (and previously my Clavis) had a slight gap between the midrange and the upper frequencies.  This seemed to contribute to a lack of bloom in the midrange.  Just not so rich in the middle like, say, a Koetsu..  This has all changed with less weight further out.  Still not a Koetsu in the mids but a Koetsu can't retrieve the detail my Delos does.  (Oops, I don't want to start a cartridge war).

The second thing I noticed was a slight taming of horns and certain voices.  No detail lost but just a little smoother.  For example, I love the three standard albums Linda Ronstadt did with Nelson Riddle.  Linda's voice has a slight edge on it that I some times found a little fatiguing.  With the long plank that edge is tamed.  Once again, no loss of extension just a little smoother. 

This is arm is truly amazing. It seems there is no limit to the improvements one can accomplish with a little effort and great input from the audiophiles on this forum.
Cheers,
Harry

Another long I-Beam update:
If you missed my earlier post Bruce's new long plank is a little too thin for the weight clamp.  It won't clamp down tightly.  Bruce just updated me to say he is working on a second run that will correct this problem.  Should be available in a couple weeks.

In the interim, if you already received the long plank there is an easy work around.  Just reverse the clamping screw so it can be applied directly to the plank like a set screw.
Harry

Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world.

Archimedes

These are the thoughts that come to me with this sample I Beam that arrived by Australian Camel. The physics involved with playing vinyl and having it outdo the Studer (on some tapes) and my Digital just fascinates me. 

Significant leverage happening here.  I am balanced with only the one molded weight on there. An inch from the end. I had to remove my larger horizontal bolt and go back to the original smaller one, along with the threaded weight holder. They are no longer needed with just the one molded weight on there.  Just too much weight. The package of weights Bruce provides with the tonearm is now serious over kill. 
  
This is with my freedom fighter cartridge. I suspect my lone weight will go all the way out with the XV1 and maybe one skinny weight - maybe not.

Initial impressions from a quick session.  Nothing negative and all perceived positives. I am being punched in the stomach with the bass; like sitting 12 feet from the stage and Bdp24 (Eric) is playing his drums like he just got some really great news. 8^)

The I beam is now the same length as the armtube; to me, it just looks right, balanced, the way it was meant to be. 

As Harry mentioned these first samples will be improved. I got word from Bruce that he was making updates to the printer.