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 ?
128x128ct0517
Hi John,
I'm using 1 ft long pure silver unshielded, cotton insulated interconnect from junction box to my CAT SL-1 which  is supposed to be 47k ohm.  The IC is made by a fellow in Texas and is sold only on eBay.  I don't know it's capacitance.  It should be pretty low.
Cheers, 
Harry
Hey Harry,
I asked what load you were using on the Delos because my Kleos is very similar.
I found 100 ohms worked best for me. Very much higher made the highs get a touch strident. What have you found? It was easy to switch loads with the ARC ph-5 on the fly with the remote, and I could tell instantly which was best.
John
Well, my CAT preamp has RCA inputs into which I can plug loads to change the loading but the only loads I have are 40 and 80 ohms.  I've tried them both and found them to roll of the highs a bit much for me.  But, then, there is my hearing loss in the high frequencies.  Most of the bloggers I have read relating to the CAT seem to prefer it straight in at 47k.  I do wish I had the luxury of remote to compare loading from my sweet spot.  Alas, I think I'll be buried with my CAT.

Convergent Audio is a rather unique company.  They have no web site and no published email or phone number.  I don't believe they even advertise.  Ken Stevens is rabidly protective of his dealers and forces all contact through them.  Makes it difficult for the tweakers among us.  Unlike, ET you can't just pick up the phone and say, "Hey Ken, send me down some loading plugs."  

The company was not that way in its earlier days.  In fact, I actually spoke with Ken a few times shortly after purchasing my preamp.  I'm not denigrating the company.  Ken builds a super product.  At the risk of alienating others on this thread, the only preamps I've heard that I thought were in the same league are the ARC SP-10 and SP-11.  I do confess to have an interest in the ARC SP-20.  I need to get down to Atlanta to see if I can listen to one.  Purchase would have to wait another year or two for prices on the used market to come down some.
Harry

Lyra recommends between 90ohms and 47Kohms for your cart. I really think you would benefit from somewhere in between, especially if you're trying to improve your bass. The bass will improve while the treble gets less strident as you decrease the load. (going from 47K  on down)  You would appreciate it since you've got the arm dialed in. Can you sling solder? I would ask Ken where to solder in some loads. He has no doubt helped other owners of his fine preamp with the same issue. It's a very common problem for vinyl fanatics.
Sorry for meddling, but just trying to help, since you're trying to get the max out of your setup.

vpi, I’m a lot older than you and been around a lot of jets as well.
I know my hearing is way down but the brain compensates very well if it knows losing music would affect your overall stasis significantly .
Nuro science had advanced a thousand fold on stuff like this with ground-breaking research from Oxbridge in UK .

Glad I never saw an ET-2 ,I’d really be nuts . Of course ET-2 really means Electronic Technician Second Class ,USN .