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
This post is of coarse, assuming my other posts, have since posted, which is doubtful, but hopeful.

In another thread, you responded by initially saying... be careful what you wish for, and I think you said, "man up". Something like that?

Anyway, if all of my posts come through, and come through in order, I think you'll get the (gist) of this remark, as will others.
Hi Guys -what a month July was.
First half of summer over. Been away.... up north (for me), listening to mostly natural wild sounds (music) amplified by the lake.
Imagine hearing people have a normal conversation 1 kilometer away from you. The magic of sound carrying on a still lake surrounded by hills, cliffs, mountains . This gives new meaning to the dog barking on Rogers Waters - Amused to Death album.
Back for a few days then the second half starts for me. The good lord willing.

Some comments from some of the posts here.

Re: Lead discussions. IMO Any experienced audiophile that can still hear, should be able to determine the benefits and limitations of using lead or other materials in their own systems. With that, lead is a banned substance in many countries including Canada.

The ET2 manual carries this warning.

The lead counterweights used in the tonearm can be handled infrequently without cause for concern. Prolonged handling of lead and exposure to skin should be accompanied by good personal hygiene procedures. Wash hands after handling. Do not allow children to handle to ingest these weights. If one is swallowed by anyone induce vomiting and refer to a physician.

07-11-15: Geoffkait
Pierre of Mapleshade used to employ a lot of solid lead at CES and in his recording studio. However, after buying into the whole lead thing, including solid lead he has since recanted and no longer employs lead. Even my Arcici stand that employed lead bars sounded more open and natural with the lead bars removed.

Geofffkait - welcome to the thread.

Makes me wonder (a little) if the removal of lead becomes a business decision - increased Sales Potential for products to countries that ban lead. Just saying.
This hobby is all about personal setup; always has been. My experiences have been I can make any material work to a certain level of satisfaction and live with it. Some materials however (in each of our individual setups) will work better and give you more "ROPE" for this crazed "hobby" of ours.

BTW - For those unaware GeoffKait was "sort of" of responsible for my being banned from Audiogon by my wife during the late winter listening season.

if interested in the soap opera like details follow this link.

All is forgiven Geoff ... :^)

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Slaw - Why is it that as Ct0517 pointed out recently that this site has had over 1 million hits, but IMO, there are really very few responders? This, to me, is very troubling. I've tried to change this but with my socials skills very lacking, I doubt if I helped at all.


Slaw, do you know how many different people are on this thread /have posted on it ?

Some stats as of this morning 08 02 2015

Slaw - It seems, in this context, a good argument can be made that this forum as it relates to this topic and the value we or the audio reviewer places on a particular recording or equipment is most likely a waste of time, unless we place innocuous terms/phrases such as... "this may be" or "you could hear this" or "you may have a different result" in reference to what we think others may find from our descriptions of our own findings within our own systems.
Slaw - If we drill down one more level, all ET2 owners on this thread have a unique point of reference (or lack thereof). It happens to be the most tweak-able tonearm I have ever owned. None of our individual ET 2.0 ET 2.5 setups are identical. That makes things even more complicated .....doesn't it ?

I think it really all boils down to people using tips from generous posters here; using them to their liking. People that post tips on this thread do so in an unselfish manner and not for profit. Just sharing info. They ask nothing in return. btw - I have received numerous pm's from folks (ET2 owners/non-owners) who enjoy the thread but are too shy to post or prefer not to.

In regards to your comments on Frogman's audio projects; Frogman was kind enough to share a couple pics of his setup here.
Can be seen in the 2014 Audiophile Wrap.

In this post the first two pics are Frogman's setup.

I took the liberty of nicknaming the pics the Mona Lisa of ET2 Tonearm wire setup.

Frogman's pics show multiple projects.... imo.

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and...

A friend sent me this interesting audiophile article link. I found it a good read, honest, mostly on the mark too.... So I share it with all of you

here.

Happy Listening

(keyboard feels sticky)
07-13-15: Schubert
We probably don't know 20% of the variables in audio and most likely never will.
I had occasion few years ago to watch one of the acknowledged
best symphony space designers work on a multi-million upgrade to a hall, he said at the end of the day its cut and paste.

Schubert - an observation. food for thought
Its been my personal experience in seeing/hearing performances, and when I played trombone that the bass section players are always in the back.
Interesting then ? when it comes to reproduction of this music in an audiophile music room; my experience has been that speaker manufacturers put the bass drivers in front of the midrange/tweeters as the bass waves are much different - slower. This is very evident with both my Quad 57's and B&W 801 Matrix s3 monitors. Now if the drivers are all on one even plane I imagine the same magic is being accomplished within the electronics circuitry.

hmm...
Frogman: Is/are/do these posts meet your requirements of being "succinct"?

If not, I'm still up for a challenge.
CtO517, couldn't agree more, The 2 speakers I mainly use both have sloped fronts , time alignment , as its often referred to.
Both the Meadowlarks and Gallos have only 1 capacitor to protect the tweeter .
When you get into complex crossovers IMO it can be done but the cure is usually worse that the disease .