2. analog
  3. 1325551242

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 ?
128x128ct0517

Showing 2 responses by dertonarm

dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
Dear Chris,
I preferred the IKEDA silver litz - here in particular because it features extremely soft Teflon-foil insulation - resulting in extremely low reset force.
Very important IMHO with an air bearing tangential tonearm.
Besides that mechanical advantage it sounds very open and has become my tonearm inner wiring of choice due to some other mechanical advantages as well as no sonic shortcomings whatsoever.
I used the high pressure manifold as soon as it became available.
Furthermore I used a very large surge tank to smooth air flow.
Compressor was the old venerable Jun-air "Troll".
Still in my experience, the ET 2/2.5 developed problems at 19-22 psi and higher.
Extremely important too, to bring surface of platter AND ET2/2.5 in perfect level - but that's mandatory anyway .. ;-) ...
Cheers,
D.
dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
In brief summary - don't want to get too much involved here - my experiences with the ET 2 and 2.5:

- air pressure (and by chance pulse frequency on the air stream) can have a huge effect on the sound quality. Above a certain pressure the arm can display problems. Up to this "break-point" the sound gets ever more precise and bass gains in "attack" and air.
While the air bearing and tangential principle allow the ET2/2.5 to shine in soundstage and separation, it too sets the limits of it's ability to present authority and attack in the lower bass. This is not a problem of the ET however, but a problem - IMHO - of air bearings in tonearm.

- I always had best results with cartridges with low compliance, rigid internal construction and low body weight. Early ZYX (Monster's AG2000 was an OEM ZYX) and FR-1 MK3F in particular.

- In summary and IMHO, the ET2/2.5 can still give any other tangential tonearm a very hard time and real competition - no matter the price tag.
I modified mine quite a lot and tweaked it to what I think are the limits of it's design.
I loved that tonearm and always will.
To me the best price performance ratio in tangential tonearms and for opera-lovers maybe THE tonearm to go for.

Cheers,
D.
More to discover