Trans-Fi Terminator Tonearm: 2019 Update

Yes, you're correct, I fell out with the Terminator, due to difficulty in setting it up and then maintaining this correct set up. I was never happy with the silk covered Litz wire or the recommended way of dressing it. Also I took my gear to HiFi meetings at least a couple of times a year, and a set up, every time I moved the deck didn't suit. A pivot arm just worked out better for me, the wife was scared stiff of touching the Terminator. Having said all that, when it was on song it bettered anything else I had owned.
During a recent bout of inactivity, with no other DIY HiFi projects on the go, I decided to have one last go at sorting my Terminator. It was during this set up, that I realized the cause of many of my woe's, the Mounting plate was flexing when levelling the Manifold/Sled or changing VTA. Once I realized this, it gave me some new impetus to sort the arm out.
I used to swap ideas quite a bit with Vic, he loaned me his rubber band Slider, were the pivot pins sat on rubber bands.
I have seen his latest wand on his web site, but like with the rubber band Slider, it doesn't sit well with my way of thinking. To much damping and ways of errors creping in to VTA, Azimuth and VTF.
I don't like the Nylon Pivot pins, I prefer Steel pins running in a Nylon "V".
I tried to contact Andrey, re the Carbon wand, but he is not answering emails from the West, he may not even be receiving them. 

I got the modified Terminator Arm finished and mounted to my DIY DD Turntable.
It's rock solid, with the new Mounting Plate.



I need to fine tune things to find the sweet spot and make up my mind if I prefer the sound with/without the 3mm Copper mat.

I mounted the cartridge as far forward as possible, to reduce the effect of different record thickness on VTA.

The external power supply I made still works fine after more than a decade, it’s the only clue that the deck has a Technics SL-1200 DD motor and control circuit in it.
The Platter and its Bearing came from a Pro-Ject RPM9 deck, I made an adaptor to allow it to work with the Technics motor. The platter and bearing is much, much superior to the basic Technics SL-1200 or the SL-1200G_ _ for that matter. The bearing is the one used on the current top of the line Pro-Ject Turntables.

It is really nice to see all the effort put into pressing  the Terminator back into service again, pairing with such a lovely bespoke turntable.  The several tweaks that you have arrived at are really worth  looking into. The mounting plate I am most interested in. Your thinking on using steel pins on nylon ‘v’ instead of the nylon pins resting on bare metal is also worth trying, if only to stop it from moving about.

In the OP above, I had mentioned the fellow audiophile, Owen Young, who inspired my purchasing the Terminator through his blog, https://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/terminator-tonearm-new-arm-mount/. There are a lot of similarities between his investigations and all your efforts in optimizing the arm. The nylon pins was his suggestion to Vic, Ithink. There is another interesting, for me, similarity. When I was reading his blog, I had the distinction sense that this person must be a structural engineer or an architect. And sure enough Owen was an architect ( he passed a few years ago ). I had the same feeling in going through your blog as someone in the design profession. And I think you mentioned that you are a product  designer. I too am an architect by profession. There must be a ‘less is more’ aesthetic to this arm that attracts designers, no? Or at least maybe a slide rule aesthetic ( giving away my age). 
 

I am hoping with all the tweaks, it will be more stable in use and you will enjoy the superior sonics for a longer duration. Please report on its SQ when appropriate.

Actually I suggested Nylon Pins to Vic, not saying Owen didn’t have the same thought though. I was discussing the Chatter based distortion with Vic, with the then steel pins running direct on the Aluminium "V" of the Strap. I mentioned I was going to remove material from the Strap and line it with Silicon or Nylon. Vic thought this would add to much extra complexity/cost to his production. So I casually mentioned an alternative could be Nylon pins, as they are available off the shelf and just need a point adding. I never actually liked the idea myself but Vic ran with it and it did cure the chatter. I always felt the pivot bearing needs a firm almost sharp point to work best. The Nylon is a bit to soft in my opinion.
I like your thinking, but I think anyone, not just design professionals can see the benefits of keeping things simple. The low tech approach of the Terminator has less to go wrong or maintain.
Actually I would have designed the mounting and VTA system completely differently. To me the fundamental flaw with the Terminator is the single pivot bolt that locks off the VTA adjustment and the Manifold/Slider levelling. Adjust one and you effect the other, I would have had separate methods of adjusting each.
But it is what it is and it kind of works so I can live with it. Designs are never finished, Vic still tinkers with his, as do I, its all part of the fun and it keeps the old grey matter ticking over.
Tip:
The Screws for levelling the Manifold/Slider are very sensitive in their adjustment, I tend to get it somewhere close, lock off the pivot bolt then do the final adjustment using the feet on my deck. It only takes a fraction of a turn on the feet but it is much finer adjustment and I can get the Slider to float stationary much easier this way.

Sound:
I tried with/without the Copper mat and preferred it with the Copper.
I put the Technics/Terminator with a lowly AT33PTG II up against my heavily modified Lenco idler drive with original Mission 774 arm and much more expensive VDH MC One Special. I preferred the Technics/Terminator.
I put the VDH in the Terminator and this confirmed it was the better set up.
I love the sound and my mods make the arm nicer to use, its the best sound I’ve had from Vinyl. See more comments Here:

@qwin 

On the  newer version of the Terminator that I have, all pins are made of nylon, including the pins for leveling the arm. It would be too difficult for me to take up your tip on leveling the arm using the turntable footers for final adjustments. I will stick with the old fashion way.

Your critique of the Terminator is appreciated. While we’re at it, add non-repeatable VTF adjustments as an additional criticism. I don’t know how you do it, but I fine tune VTF at the start of each listening session.

‘I was not familiar with the Vdh MC 1 Special so I read up on it. A reviewer described it as having similar sound signature as a Lyra Clavis dc. And your description of the MC 1 + Terminator combo sounding like music mirrors my vinyl experience. Especially these past two years, I was able to sourced two TOTL cartridges, a Transfiguration Proteus rebuilt by Anna Mighty Sound and A ZYX Ultimate Astro serviced by VAS audio. I no longer use my critical faculties to judge what I hear. I don’t break it down into distinct low, mid, and high frequencies, weighting their individual qualities, and analyzing how they interact. There is just this continuum and coherence that is felt as music, no artifice. These are cartridges retailing in the $6k-13k range playing on a +$1k arm, entry level phono stage, with terrific results. Who would have known? 
 

It’s a pity so few will hear this arm. I am in a prolonged process of acquiring a second, higher tier, pivot arm. And I believe I will be in a better position to taut the abilities of the Trans-Fi arm when compared the additional pivot arm. In any case, it was a SME V that preceded  the Terminator and the upper hand belongs to the underdog. 

i have a question for you: in working with the pivot pins, both you and Owen mentioned chatter induced distortion. I thought I knew what that meant. But I cannot be sure. What does a chatter induced distortion sound like, which frequency range does it occur?