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Trans Fi Salvation direct rim drive turntable

Hi A'goners, I've just bought this turntable, confident it'll be my last upgrade. The rest of my system is a Tom Evans Groove Plus SRX phono stage, EMM Labs CDSA SE cd player, Hovland HP200 pre/Radia power amps, Zu Definitions Mk 4 loudspeakers, so a pretty good way to listen to vinyl.

Over the years, since 1995 I've progressed from a Roksan Xerxes/Artemiz/Shiraz, via a Michell Orbe/SME V/Transfiguration Orpheus, finally ending up last week with my new Trans Fi Salvation/Trans Fi T3Pro Terminator/Zu modded Denon 103.

This turntable (£2500 UK price, approx $4000-$5000 US) is the brainchild of Vic, a retired dentist, who, fed up with the shortcomings of belt drive and traditionally-pivoted tone arms, literally from the ground up devised first the Terminator air bearing linear tracking tone arm (now in T3Pro guise as on my system), and now the direct rim drive Salvation turntable, a technology in direct opposition to the hegemony of belt drive we've come to accept from the '70s.

In summary, he has developed a motor that directly rim drives an oversize platter. The magic is that vibrations are drained away from the platter and hence stylus. So minimal rumble is transmitted, the weakness of Garrards/Lencos in the past. This is mated to a substantial slate plinth which does a great job of isolating the whole rig from external vibrations.

Where this differs from direct drive is that the torque applied is high enough to counteract stylus drag, but it is strictly analogue controlled ie no digital feedback applying constant micro speed control. Speed is set correctly, torque is sufficient, and speed stability is like a rock.

This is combined with his air bearing linear tracking arm, discussed on other threads.

So technical description over, how about how it sounds? Well, years ago I always assumed the overhang in bass when playing lps on my previous belt drive/pivoted arm tts, apparent as a benign artifact, was all part of the 'romance' of vinyl, esp. when compared to the dry, clinical sound of early cd. But in 2007 I acquired the EMM cd, which had a natural analogue sound playing silver discs, but none of this bass colouration. On studying the growing reemergence of idler/direct drive, and their superiority in maintaining speed stability, I agreed that the belt speed instability might be introducing this.

Two years ago I came across Vic, and now I can report that eliminating the belt for high torque rim drive has taken this whole artifact out of the equation. Whole layers of previously masked information like rhythm guitars are now present, treble information has abundant naturalness and decay, and bass, which appears to be less in quantity compared to belt, is actually more accurate with a real start-stop quality, much more like digital, and the real thing. The other positives are more linked to the arm, including uncanny tracking across the whole record side; I'm really not exaggerating in saying that the last few grooves at the end of an lp side are as solidly reproduced as the first. Music with strong dynamic contrasts are really served well by the Salvation, and I am shocked at how good this all is after trepidation that the sound might be hyperdetailed but too assertive etc. In fact music is reproduced with a relaxed incision, and a welcoming detailed transparency.

The amazing thing is that all of this is not in anyway at the expense of the natural warmth and tonal dimensionality that still puts vinyl way ahead of any digital (imho).

The only thing, and Vic would like this to be known, is that his creation is a cottage industry, and he can only produce limited numbers to order.

I'm happy to answer qs on it, as I really want our community to know about a possible world beating product at real world prices. My tech knowledge will be limited, but no problem discussing sound quality issues.

I'm not affiliated in anyway to the product, just sold my Orbe on ebay and bought this. Regards to all
spiritofmusic
spiritofmusic OP
828 posts
 
Regarding the Reso Mat, yes it does seem counter intuitive that something which allows freedom of the lp to not be flush flat when being played can only add to soundstaging and dynamics issues.
But maybe this needs to be looked at in reverse. Maybe use of clamp and outer ring does indeed maximise flattness, but if it introduces strain and overdamping maybe this negates this advantage. Whenever I used clamps/mats/rings on my Orbe, somewhat better soundstaging resulted, but with a pinching of dynamics and musical energy.
All I can say there is no hint of overdamping just a surplus of musical energy coming thru on the Salvation.
lewm
13,043 posts
 
As I mentioned previously, I tend not to like clamps and rings. Like anything else, damping can be overdone at the expense of lifelike qualities.
spiritofmusic OP
828 posts
 
Absolutely my point Lewm, my Orbe was improved in some ways with clamping/periphery rings/mats, but in other ways, life, energy and dynamics were stifled.
Another example of Vic thinking "outside the box" and going down a route not followed by any other tt designers.
It amuses me that near state of the art sound can be had with such simple engineering approaches compared to the seriously OTT vacuum hold down/clamping/fixing of lps with pumps/suction/heavy rings offered by top end tt manufacturers like Continuum, Walker, Clearaudio etc.
An amazing result of eliminating fixings is quite the liveliest, most naturally exhuberant sound I've ever heard from my lps.
However I have a couple of devilishly warped lps to play soon, will report my thoughts then (thinking of investing in a Vinyl Flat).
spiritofmusic OP
828 posts
 
Redglobe, I think you'll find first and foremost, it is the design of the motor that minimises transmission of rumble to the platter, draining it diametrically away via the feet and operating lever.
Then on top of this by raising the lp off the platter a few milimetres onto inert points, it minimises further vibrations reaching the stylus via the lp itself.
So maximum torque, speed stability, resistance to stylus-groove modulation is provided by the direct rim drive engineering; stable, neutral tracking across the WHOLE lp side is provided by the air bearing linear tracking arm; and potential downsides of transmission of rumble are minimised by deliberate motor design and interruption of continuous flow of energy by the resomat.
All that needs to top this off is something like the Vinyl Flat to tame overwarped lps which might not sit well with the resomat, moderately warped lps have been no problem so far.
My perception of pitch, I'm really not too sure how well developed it is. I have to say classical music esp. piano seems to be v. truthful. The tt seems to get the full percussive impact as the hammer strikes to create the leading edge of the note (direct result of v. high torque motor), and no wavering in decay as the note dies away (direct result of minimal time domain 'smear' caused by ultra accurate speed control). fade outs involving acoustic instruments are v. close to as waver free as digital.
One of the biggest improvements I wasn't even expecting to get is a massive improvement in vocals. Voices are much more solid and intelligible, more centre stage than ever.
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
Spirit, looking at the Reso Mat, it appears that the LP rests on a few points elevated above the platter. Without anyway to clamp the LP down and prevent it from moving, do you notice any slippage of the LP as the needle creates drag during large groove modulations?

I understand from your many descriptions of the high torque motor that it propels the LP forward at constant and accurate speed. That is a big advantage. I'm wondering though if the friction from the stylus might be enough to slow down the LP during big piano notes etc while the massive direct rim drive keeps the platter moving forward. How does the Reso Mat/Trans Fi Salvation deal with this potential problem?
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