Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

BTW - If you want to know if your wire loom/TT/Preamp is up to par mount that 420str on a direct drive or idler where the motor is inches away from that cartridge. It will tell you right away if your setup is ok or has issues. Wires, TT motor related, other. Its a great test cartridge in this respect.

Interesting Chris....as I have also found the 420STR to act much like a LOMC on my Victor DD in its susceptibility to 'feedback' when the volume is turned up?
This despite the fact that the phono stage gain is set to the low MM value which, incidentally displays no such 'feedback' with 'normal' MMs?
Do you have any thoughts on why this should be the case with the 420STR?

Ct0517, on my TransFi the "loom problem" is compounded by slightly thicker discretely shielded wires, and by the extra wires required for a balanced circuit. The feather-lite short wand is particularly vulnerable to fouling.

http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1284313864.jpg

The gantry grommet is about half way across the LP. The loom is dressed like an egg-beater. It expands and contracts as it moves, with the force vectors of the discrete wires approximately cancelling.

Chris: I am in total agreement concerning the sonic gains you must be getting in having the armboard separate from the plinth. If my room were larger, I'd try the same thing. I do however have some new thoughts in mind for a new armboard (replacing the stock one) that could isolate the ET better. I am going to try this at some point when I get my other issues worked out.

I'm totally happy with the "up @ over", and I have no doubt that with the new mounting structure I'm thinking of (will not be mounted to the TT base @ and I'm going to try Frogman's recommendation of the AN wire), I'll be even happier. One drawback with my current support structure is not very much room to access the lever to pull the spindle back. My new one will be mounted to the Symposium base thereby having better access and less vibration.

BTW Chris, I liked the pic you provided us of the wire Take Five Audio built for you. I loved the attention that was paid to the gradual step down coming out of the WBTs. Was this accomplished with teflon tubing?

Thanks for the compliment on my motor enclosure. I built it myself. My second try at one. I really learned alot from my first try. It may not pass a WAF, but to me the beauty is in it's solid construction and how it performs. I'm still planning on using a bearing/pinch roller scheme something like Dgarretson uses, that to me will be killer when it is finished.
Once you try thread drive, there's no going back, IMO.

Hi Henry – welcome to the thread.

I will reply to your question with my actual DD and idler impressions later. Need to catch up with the holiday weekend that was anything but a holiday with two soon to be 18 years olds packed up and sent away to college. Now I wait for their phone calls. Damn... now I need to change their phone plans before I get dinged with huge bills. :^(

Slaw

I am in total agreement concerning the sonic gains you must be getting in having the armboard separate from the plinth.

Correction – replace the word plinth with platter, motor, bearing

The word plinth is one of those bad words – it has been corrupted by analog audiophiles - IMO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinth

Plinth to me means common platform. All my TT’s have a plinth. How the tonearm, motor, and platter, bearing connect to this common platform varies. There are good designs and bad designs. I have personally found that a well executed- bad design, can out perform a badly executed - good design.

DG - need to look at that tonearm some more. living /breathing egg beater ?

Chris: I am referring to 'plinth' as does VPI when describing their tt designs, and as far as I know, most TT manufacturerers do. I have to say, the wiki link you provided seems to confirm the intent I initially meant. The plinth in my TT is 'the' platform you speak of. The armboard is connected to this 'plinth', (and becomes part of it) that supports the platter and bearing.