Top linear trackers

@thekong 

You are right about the potential drag.

Another significant advantage the ET has over the Kuzma, Rockport etc is the decoupled counterweight system in the horizontal plain. This lowers the horizontal effective mass as seen by the cartridge - significantly lower than the other options - and in actual fact lower horizontal effective mass than some of the pivoted heavyweights arms eg FR64S & Dynavectors.

Look at the manifold, an inverted ‘v’ as opposed to a circular tube in most other cases. It is an inherently more stable ( no tendency to roll ) platform for the cartridge / wand assembly to glide on.

Actually thats misleading. Although it uses parallel V extrusions which tend not to roll laterally, the Terminator uses a floating air bearing. If I hooked up a high pressure pump I could blow the arm off its rail. If there are any deviations in air flow this arm will bounce along the rail.

The Eminent Technology uses a far superior captured air bearing - the spindle runs through a manifold and air is forced around the tube applying pressure 360 degrees. This is far more rigid and stable - any deviation in air pressure at any point is met with a correcting force on the other side.

Not all "tube" air bearing arms are fully captured. Some have air holes only on the top side, which means there is no resistance to bottoming out.

I have an issue with arms like the Rockport & Kuzma where the air is forced into the moving arm - in my view this must play havoc with tracking force at a micro level because the plastic air hose will try to straight out under pressure, hence exerting vertical pressure on the arm.

With the Eminent Technology the air is piped into the manifold. There are no air lines connected to the moving arm/spindle.

@ledoux1238

If you really want to make a substantial upgrade to your front end you should investigate the Eminent Technology ET2/ET2.5 - even an old ET2 low pressure will trounce the Terminator - I’ve heard both - there is no comparison.

The ET has a decoupled counterweight system that can be tuned to the cartridge compliance - you can run anything on it from Decca's to high compliance Shure V15's.

@ledoux1238 

I have a pressure gauge, but to be honest I don't use it.

I have inserted it to check the pressure when I set the arm up or do a system check, but with the ET you can feel the pressure when you handle the arm. Here in NZ I use a moisture extractor prior to the entry to the arm because we have a humid environment and during winter when you have hold and cold patches, you can get condensation.