Trans-Fi Terminator Tonearm: 2019 Update


In reading a few related posts on linear tracking tonearm, in general,  and Trans-Fi Terminator , in particular, I thought I would give a brief update of the Terminator.

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'!




ledoux1238

Yes, there is a good improvement in sound quality over the stock set up.
Like many people, I don’t have room for a large array of tanks, which is why I made the point, that this solution is compact, so more practical for these users. It’s an alternative solution which opens up some possibilities for folks like me.
My air supply is located in an unused space, behind a door that is always left open, so out of sight, but easy to get at/maintain. Being in a different room, through a brick wall, means I have zero pump noise in my listening room. I may try some different types of solid beads instead of the Polystyrene, to see if they work better, maybe ceramic aquarium filter beads or even dried peas?
Going for a longer flexible hose, usually means a pressure drop/loss so a more powerful pump may be required. Having said that, mine operates in the first third of its adjustment knobs rotation, so I can give it a try.

@qwin I am happy that there is improvement in SQ. The pump I used before, Eheim 400, is similar to yours in power output, I believe. I recall going up to maybe 60L so there should be plenty of reserve in the pump to experiment.

on a different note, I visited a local audio store over the weekend operated by a hardcore two channel vinyl proprietor. He carries interesting brands mostly from Eastern Europe, J. Sikora, Reed, Holbo…etc. He showed me a Polish TT with an integrated LT arm by Pre Audio. The arm had an even shorter wand than the Terminator and an integrated pump located underneath the arm. In terms of design, it solved many of the problems we are dealing with the Terminator, dressing the phono leads, getting the arm out of the way to remove records,….etc and not very expensive. I was excited to see another humble LT arm. Didn’t get to hear it play though. 

Interesting about the LT arm, I will try and find details of that.
I'm still experimenting with the filter material in the 3L chamber of my twin tank.
I emptied out the small Polystyrene balls, which are very light and even static off your arm moves them around. I put 1.5L of ceramic baking beads in the bottom of the tank. The kind used for blind baking, about 10/11mm diameter. This will be topped off with 1.5L of 6mm "Airsoft" BB gun plastic pellets. The ceramic beads are slightly irregular and form a course filter, the BB pellets are perfect polished spheres. The smaller diameter of the pellets and precise spherical form will create much smaller passage ways between them.

I have an intermittent problem with my arm.
Occasionally in use, when I come to move the wand back at the end of a record, the slider has great resistance, almost as though it is being sucked down on to the manifold. I'm wondering if there is some form of vacuum effect, where the air is exiting from the holes either side of the slider and there is a venturi effect from the holes under the slider sucking it down. It becomes so stiff, it is easier to move it with the pump off and no air at all. Just repositioning the slider or lifting one end of it while the air is on, seems to rectify this for a while.
I was wondering if anyone else had come across this issue?