Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

"analog of a dog"
Good grief. Just read the 2nd line of my previous post.
This is what happens when u prepare a post in email; it passes spell grammar checks; u r full off a large coffee and nature calls so you cut and paste and go about your day. :^(

It's actually kind of growing on me this morning. Analog of the Dog.

A good name for a new album from a 70's rock group maybe ?

Banquo363

I should have known better since the first et2 I bought had indentations so deep into the mounting base that I had to sand the thing down in order to mount the pillar correctly.

Banquo - At least you looked under the cover to find out. Some buy these arms already mounted on a table - 20 + years old sometimes. They never take the tonearm off to check it out. Who knows what lies beneath.

A new ET 2.5 from Bruce is $4500 American dollars and it does not come with a pump. A Used base ET 2.0 comes on sale every few months on ebay. I know because my Ebay alert is still there. Mentioned in the previous post a base used ET2 sells for about $700 - 800, so it can be an alluring option if someone is looking to try one especially compared to buying new. However it can be a bit of a crap shoot as you Banquo show us.

Every long term ET2 owner has learned with their ET2, ET 2.5. It is not plug and play. No one can come on here and say they knew how to set it up and use it from the get go. The ET2 manual although very long and thick; is actually written at the 5,000 foot level IMO. To get to the heart of a refined setup as we have discussed here would add XX pages more to it. Anyone disagree ?

To use an "ANALOGY" again (amazing what one letter does) Consider this. Well I did this morning anyway.

Buying a used ET2 can be like buying a used Manual Transmission car off someone that learned how to drive stick on it. A new clutch, (think ET2 VTA worm gear block and mounting plate to start) may be required due to the abuse some give to the horizontal and vertical bolts in learning 1) how to set it up 2) then to make music with it, and 3) refine the setup of this instrument. Hopefully if they get to level 3 they have gone easy on the bolts - firm not rigid. Think musical instrument.

It is good practice to get a car checked out before you buy it. No different here and even more so and not just from the headaches and frustration it can save you. You see although an expensive car clutch can be replaced on its own; Bruce does not sell the VTA blocks and mounting plates separately.

Something to think about. Maybe makes the NOS ET2 that just sold more appealing; if u were in the market for one?

Cheers

The last acutex 420 str I saw fetched an astonishing price . Any bets on how much this one will go for?

At any rate, a good opportunity for those who have been searching for one.

The famous Italian Puntina is back. Not to be confused with Puttana. Although this cartridge, if set up properly, may make you forget, temporarily, the later? nah...

And this time coming to us from......drum roll please......... Oh Canada.
We stand on guard for thee....

But ! ...just as our Canadian dollar is doing its best impression of acting like a hockey puck, that has just been tossed into the water.
This Canadian seller...... has smartly priced out the Puntina in American dollars. Oh...when will that US dollar ever fall ?

Do you guys remember when I posted about the high price of gas here? It was in the same post that I made reference to how Bruce has held his prices on ET 2 parts.
Well two weeks later do you remember what happened to the price of gas .... coincidence ?
Could this post trigger something again...... hah hah

For ET 2.0 and 2.5 owners. this cartridge allows you to use One FAT and One THIN lead weight at the very end of the I Beam.
My current cartridge is an MC, a little heavier and requires two Fatties on the I Beam

yes the 420str really is that light- hence its nickname Cracker Jack Box Cartridge.
Set up this way, it allows the ET tonearm to achieve its greatest vertical inertia.
For me, this produces the best tuneful bass; When used in a room that is easily pressurized without stressing the amp/s.

btw - did u know that authentic Canadian made hockey pucks make great audio component stand legs/isolators ?

First bid in... anyone here ?

Yup! Need two for when (if) I get around to doing a shootout between my ET2/TNT5 and the Forsell (which STILL sits in the box).

-
Successful Frogman?

>
Timeter Aridyne - Spring pump maintenance gone bad.

Every spring and fall the exhaust nozzle on my pump where moisture gets dumped out, gets soaked in CLR to clear out any mineral debris. here is a pic of the exhaust tube showing spring loaded nozzle at bottom.

exhaust nozzle

From within the pump cabinet a little lift is needed to pull out the nozzle. This time I felt something give at the other end when I did this. The O-ring that holds the nylon tube tight to the nut gave a little and started leaking air. This exhaust tube has a spring loaded valve on the end (part below the chrome part) and its spring tension is based on the the PSI setting that is used. This spring tension is how you get the pumps Air Performance to be normal, dry, very dry air ....
As discussed here before - The ET tonearm likes Arizona like air .

The O ring was now leaking (air & moisture), and it was throwing off the spring loaded valve at the other end.

to add to the complications - the brass elbow male threads, that hold the nut that secures the exhaust tube are between 3/8 and 1/4 inch and no longer made. The O ring itself (same material as tube) is a one time use thing like a car's oil drain plug crushable washer. It gets crushed and molds on the tube to fit tight. This 10 cent part O ring was keeping me from playing my records.

So I attempted to undo the male elbow assembly prior to the exhaust tube, with the thought to replace it with a new elbow with threads on the one side that would work with current compression nuts. After much work and some very weird noises :^( when prying it off, I was also to remove it.

old and new elbows.

I inserted the new fresh brass elbow, and was feeling really good about myself about now, then I discovered; I now had an air leak at the other end where the brass elbow enters the bowl. I must have cracked the bottom bowl opening hence the earlier noises. This bowl holds any condensed drips of water where through the PSI are pushed down and out the exhaust tube. This pump system has no bowls that need to be emptied. I tried to tighten the connection using teflon tape and gel based thread locker. No luck. Had I done myself in? My backup pump is either a compressor, or a Medo good for about 8 psi at the arm; but the ET 2.5 in my main room will not run below 19 PSI. In fact it starts to skip around 17 or so psi ?

I resorted to my secret weapon, leak savior.

JB Marine Cold Weld

I Iined some around the base where the vertical brass fitting goes up and into the bowl and let it cure. I realized I was closing this connection for good. And the bowl itself where the crack is; would need to be removed and replaced anyway, if this die not work. Waited 24 hours.

It seems to have worked.....fingers crossed.

Cost of the repair.

My anxiety once I learned what I had done. $$$
My frustration in trying to fix the leak $$$
JB Weld Marine Weld - FREE - I had some from a boat repair,
New Brass fitting with compression nut - $4.99 Canadian dollars.

Listening to music on my ET 2.5 / Timeter Pump - 19 PSI - Priceless

Being in the business of contingency planning, I have been looking for a second Timeter pump for years; found many where I would have been the only starting low bid. But the shipment costs were always too high to justify. Now I have to add the dollar difference on top of that.
(sorry for any grammar/spelling errors in the above)