Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

Ct, Long ago I decided to take the ascetic route as regards a few basic principles in my audio system:
(1) No air bearing SL tonearms, because of the fuss involved and the ugly accessories needed.
(2) No bi- or tri-amplification and therefore no multi-speaker ensemble. (See above for why.)
(3) No subwoofer. (See also above.)
(4) No 2-box CD system, one single box CDP only.

Of course, observing these mandates led to a gigantic pair of ESLs, huge monoblock tube amplifiers that require two AC cords, each, and a preamp requiring a large extra chassis for its power supply. Not to mention those turntables that I forgot to make a rule about. And a car battery to run my CDP.

I gotta admit, the Terminator (but not the ET2) has me sorely tempted to break rule #1.

Ct0517,
What interested me, or should I say piqued me, was the comments on lack of bass with ET2. I have run and listened to extensively the ET2 on the following TT's - Sota/Sota Star/Roksan/Townsend/Goldmund Studio/Technics SP10mk3/Final Audio. I was clearly getting more bass extension with some decks than others with the same cartridge/system, which tells me that the ET2 was not the limiting factor in bass extension. With some of the TT's the bass notes would "flat spot", in other words organ and double bass notes rather than go down further down the scale, the lowest notes would play incorrectly.

Dover
Care to share your impressions of the different TT’s with the ET2 ? You mention the same cartridge/system. Were all those turntables in the same room too ?

Dear Nandric, I am still waiting for my commission for the use of that endorsement :-)

****I forget the first rule for any component whatever: listen
first for yourself****

Aha! How true; nothing like listening for ourselves. I find most descriptions of equipment somewhat lacking. A comment that cartridge X is "better" than cartridge Z is not very helpful unless the listeners' tastes are identical and they have very similar systems. I have tremendous respect for Raul's ears and for his contributions. I don't think it would be doing any "injustice" to mention that I have disagreed with a couple of his assessments (at least in part). The Andante and the ATML170 are two that come to mind, and highlight how important personal sonic priorities are. Realistic (to me) dynamics is probably what I am most sensitive to. The Andante is very good in the dynamics department but I find it lacking in midrange timbre faithfulness. The AT does almost everything extremely well, but I find it to be dynamically polite. The Acutex has the "alive" quality of the Andante (and more), and the superior timbre, staging, and bass reach of the AT, while possessing a very direct quality instead of the AT's "always pretty" quality. Yet, Raul wasn't impressed. Perhaps you are correct that his sample was defective. Raul, if you are listening please chime in. Likewise, since you still own one sample please give us your impressions; but do give the cartridge some time to settle.

You are fond of colloquialisms and sayings. And since "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", I will end with:

Regards and enjoy the M(M)usic. :-)

Dover – I just now realized I may have put you in an awkward position asking for impressions on a general forum. My impatience in the interest of your findings. From your posts, you are in a rare position in this hobby with your product experience level . I have included my email in a recent post if you would like to share info that way or here for the others.

Now without having heard any of those TT’s in your list I can say, based on my own experiences.

This has been said already here but is worth repeating. The ET2 needs to be level with the platter and remain so. The air delivery and spindle must also be isolated from air turbulence, moisture and structure feedback. Introducing “any” TT that increases the risk of movement, vibrations, turbulence, structure feedback is asking for trouble and will be easily heard sonically in the ET2 as a problem. Whether as distortion, sibilance, or lack of HF LF extension, or if really bad not able to track. Any problem where the groove is not tracked properly.
Hence sprung turntables or TT’s with add on’s (pumps that need babysitting) - increase risk of movement with an ET2. Likewise any rigid table (being more prone to structure feedback on its own) introduces the possibility of structure feedback. Pump design (air turbulence). My first ET2 was on a sprung VPI HW19 IV and it was a PITA until the suspension was defeated. My SP10 set up is very easily affected by structure feedback. With that my Verdier has a pneumatic suspension but it is stiff enough that the arm is not affected. The turntable has stayed level since I have owned it. I’ve seen some very heavy arms mounted on this table so the ET2 is a piece of cake. As a point of interest to ET2 owners I have emailed with JC Verdier a number of times. As a Frenchman he could not recognize the ET2.5 in the pictures I sent him, but was impressed with what he saw of its construction.

Therefore looking at your list based on what I have said – I could probably study how the TT’s are made and come up with my own preferred top 6 list if I was shopping for a TT for my ET2 tonearm. You have however not given any details on the pump setup or whether it was a regular or HP ET2 model.
Cheers