@ledoux1238
The distortion, was vibration feeding back through the stylus/cartridge into the Wand/pins. When steel pins were running in the Aluminium "V" of the straps this vibration caused them to wiggle about or chatter. This noise or distortion could be heard through the playback as a break up of the trailing edges on vocals etc. Vic added weights over the pivots to try and stop this, which was partially successful, then went to Nylon pins as a more pliable contact point, giving some degree of damping, which worked better. I went for steel pins running in Nylon "V" which I think works better still, both sonically and in a practical way, as the pins can be pushed into the Nylon, making a small depression and they stay in these, rather than slide along the "V" in use.
Yes setting the VTF is a pain with these disc weights, but sonically better than the original boss and threaded rod with a screw on weight. This was easy to adjust but didn't sound as good. I reset my VTF yesterday and it took me about 20 attempts to get the 1.42g I wanted, must have knocked the wand out of position 3 or 4 times in the process. I set the VTF with the air off and I get repeatable measurements. If yours is varying, I would question your wire dressing, it may be causing slight drag.
Trans-Fi Terminator Tonearm: 2019 Update
I purchased the arm directly from Andrey in Moscow two months ago. From what I understand, Andrey has taken over production after Vic's retirement. What I received is the most up-to-date version of the arm with the carbon fibre wand and brass counterweights, the direct wire leads from cartridge to phono amp, and a new brass manifold ( not evident from the main web-site). Both the wand and the new manifold are Andrey's contribution to the continued refinement of the Terminator.
Also, please visit this site: https://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/terminator-tonearm-new-arm-mount/. This gentlemen from NZ has developed a new arm mount for the Terminator which advanced the arm's sonics even further. It was reading through the the development of this new arm mount that convinced me to order the Terminator after much prior research. I did not purchase the arm mount from NZ as it would not readily fit my Verdier La Platine, instead Andrey made a custom arm mount. It is in essence a two point support mount rather than a single point support rod that is commonly used.
My previous arm was a SME V of 1990's vintage mounted with a ZYX airy. The Terminator is several notch above the SME V. All the accolades given to the Terminator seem justified. My main point in writing is that the new developments by Andrey, i.e. the carbon fibre wand and the newest brass manifold, seem to improve upon the Terminator even more ( see link above ). This is the news that I wanted to share with existing Terminator owners. I asked Andrey to start a blog on all the new stuff that is happening with the arm, but it seems that he is busy making 'things'!
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@qwin i tried over the weekend to work on repeatable measurements for VTF, Ito no avail. I usually measure with air on. This was discussed in an earlier post. But even with air off, I am +-0.02g. And the readings with air on and off are different. I looked carefully at the way you dress the wires, I do it quite close. My gauge is one that has a plate right on the platter, but made in China, I assume due to its price. This aspect of the arm’s operation still eludes me. |
@ledoux1238 |
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- 223 posts total