Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

an et piece that broke.

In 2003 I over torqued and cracked the very important end cap.

In 2003 Bruce charged me $45 for it. Back in 2003 $45 also filled the tank of a 65 litre (17 US gallon) car gas tank at 68 cents a litre (3.78 litres in a US gallon),

11 years later, Bruce still charges $45 for the end cap if you break it; but gas is now $1.25-$1.35 a litre now where I live. $45 now barely fills half that same tank.

Pegasus

You don't get steel more elastic than with a perfectly pointed unipivot interface. Then think "it" as an elongated point and you see something like a short subminiature "string" at the end of the point - quite elastic, like a very small piece of microscopic harpsichord string. "Flatter" points like balls have much less of this, and make stiffer bearings

Thanks for feedback - regards the above, this is one of the reasons I chose the Naim Aro as a second arm - it uses a radiused tip in a larger radius cup for the unipivot.

I also happen to believe based on my compressors versus current setup from years ago, that there are advantages in a constant air psi being delivered by a quality pump versus a cycling off and on compressor which is like letting air out of a balloon slowly.

I tend to agree, would you want a phono stage with a constantly changing input impedance.
I wondered if anyone here has investigated the use of variable speed/variable capacity rotary air pumps to provide a balanced load and eliminate the pulsed air supply endemic in piston type pumps as used in most of the compressors mentioned in this thread ?

Something has bothered me for quite a while. I'll ask the question and disappear.

A while back Frogman responded to a post I made on the subject of the regulator I am using stating that he was surprised I could hear the difference between my stated 18.5 psi and other's 19 psi.

I kept wondering why he didn't question Ct0517's ongoing use of 19 psi? Why question me at 18.5 psi and not Ct0517's 19 psi? This, to me, makes no sense.

I'll leave this to all of you....

@Slaw

I kept wondering why he didn't question Ct0517's ongoing use of 19 psi?

My 2.5 HP manifold is a custom build by Bruce designed for 19 psi. I run it at the psi it was designed for.

Here is a real life example of a situation that may help understand what I said a few posts earlier in the Air Bearing Sticky Post.

A long time ET2'er is running a base ET2 which has had a recent cleaning maintenance done. He runs it with the stock original Takatsuki pump that still produces the 3.0 needed for the base ET2 to work, but not the 3.6 PSI the pump produced when it was new. It sounds good to him. On a whim he buys a little Medo medical pump on ebay. He notices that it makes 12 psi at the pumps output, but after travelling down 15-20 feet of air line he discovers the PSI drops to 7 psi at the gauge mounted near the tonearm. The music sounds better to him so even though this Medo makes enough noise to have to isolate in another room, he keeps it in place as it is worth it to him. He has it hooked up to 20 feet of hose and in another room. He's happy. He puts the stock pump away as a backup.

Now the maker of the our tonearms teaches us that if we improve the air supply the sonics will improve; but that over PSI'ing the arm can't hurt it physically as it is a robust design.

Based on the above example and info, did the sound get better with the little Medo pump because;

1) The PSI at the ET2 was increased to 7 psi from 3.5 stock pump.

or

2) The overall air quality delivered by the little Medo pump was better.

What do you think .... 1 or 2 above ?

btw
If anyone here is running a system with 10-15 feet of air line, and you have a quality pump that can still produce the PSI you need with a 60 - 100 feet of air line. Buy the air line as it is cheap - coil it up like a car's coil spring to save space. You will improve your sonics but only if your pump is of a design that can deliver the PSI for the longer run. Try it and find out.

From Bruce' website.

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3.6 PSI - 0riginal Takatsuki and ET-2 or 2.5

5.0- 7 PSI - WISA 300 air pump and ET-2 or 2.5 with high pressure manifolds

>10 PSI - users with shop compressors and ET-2 or 2.5 high pressure manifolds

Note, if the pressure readings are higher than those listed above, the manifold could be clogged, if the pressure readings are lower, this suggest that the pump may not be performing correctly.

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Slaw - you got your tonearm direct from Bruce correct ? What PSI was your HP manifold designed for ?

Lets start there.... imo this is your personal reference point for your system ...