Top linear trackers

@dover I am a big fan of Bruce Thigpen. I own a pair of LFT 8bs’. The initial idea for purchasing the Terminator was to use it as a linear tracking starter kit with the intention of upgrading to the ET-2.5s’. Well I haven’t gotten to the upgrade just yet. 

If you have compared both arms some years back and came to the conclusion of ET2.5’s superiority, then I would submit that the Terminator has also improved over the years. The new carbon fiber wand, a new brass manifold, an after- market arm base developed by the late Owen Young of NZ have all added to the Terminator’s improved SQ. And if  you discard the generic 1 gallon (4.5 liter) surge tank for a total air filtration volume of 150 liters, then it is a very improved Terminator that you might not have really listened to.

However, having said all that, I believe I will end up with a ET 2.5. I just do not look forward to experimenting with pump / compressor ( high pressure as opposed to low pressure of the Terminator) and filtration, not to mention just getting to understand the arm as I am a very slow learner.

@ledoux1238

For my ET 2.5, I use a shop compressor located in my garage. I ran an air line to my listening room (standard NPT 1/4" fittings) that runs into a water trap/filter and into a precision low pressure regulator. From there I have a barb that fits standard fish tank air line that goes into the ET manifold. I also run the pneumatic actuators on my VPI TNT 4 thru another precision low pressure regulator. Oh, and also an air gun for dusting off a third regulator. Once set up, there isn’t much to worry about other than cleaning off the spindle periodically. I run the ET at around 12-15PSI most of the time. Going higher doesn’t seem to improve the sonics, and can be problematic, as the pressure escaping the manifold can sometimes blow the spindle assembly back off the runout groove.

@vinylzone The ET arm can be made to order with an Alita 15 compressor according to its website. This is the compressor I am using for the Terminator. But I had thought that the ET is a high pressure arm, and the Alita operates in the 3-5 psi range. I use it to run the Terminator at 1.25psi. I am putting in an email to Bruce to start seriously start discussing a purchase. I am more comfortable running the ET in a lower pressure environment. 

@ledoux1238 , I am not sure why you want to run the ET in low pressure, unlike your Terminator, capture bearing arms, like the ET, usually perform better at higher pressure, at least up to the limit of the air bearing. This is due to higher pressure creates a tighter bearing. If I remember correctly, the ET2.5 high pressure bearing can accepts up to 15 - 20 psi. If I am using the ET, I will be using a high pressure compressor with integrated surge tank, and multistage air regulators. 

Dover has this interesting point about the air hosts in the Rockport / Kuzma Airline affecting the VTF! This is new to me, but while I can imagine the VTF can be affected if you are using say 10psi as compared to 30psi, I can't see why there is a problem when you have adjusted the VTF with the air pressure you will be using during play. But then, I suppose everything is possible if we are talking about the microscopic level. If there is a problem with the air host, I would think it is the lateral drag it created. So, it is very important to arrange the air host and wiring into a  n  shape to minimize drag.   

@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.