Trans-Fi Terminator Tonearm: 2019 Update

Hi Harold,  Congrats on your contribution towards the improvement of the arm. The lamination of different materials helps eliminate resonance, as I understnd it, as well better machining of air holes in brass. Frankly, I did not know that carbon fiber was used in the manifold. Very cool!

I did some further fine tuning of the VTF today. Not having a Fozgometer is a problem. But the adjustement really helped in solidifying the entire soundsatge, better imaging (quite amazing, actually! ), better separation,.....better all around. The point is that fine adjustments are so easily achieved. 

I feel that I have inherited all the incremental improvements of the Terminator over the years in one simple purchase. Harold,  how significantin in your opinion, are the improvements  of this most recent iteration of changes? I have followed the arm's development with much interest. BTW, I would highly recommend using a two point support arm mount. Apparently, it improves the arm even further.

@noromance you have such a lovely collection of vintages gears. The Terminator would be a no-brainer addition as it would work well with either of your tables.  And as Horold has mentioned, the price of entry is so low ( in relative terms ) that you kind of have nothing to lose. 

Harold,  I just caught a glimpse of your turntable on the Trans-Fi web-site. It must be a couple of generations prior to your slate plinth version. But I totally understand part of your turntable now, a heavily modified Oracle. It certainly has come a long way with so much work put into it.

Also, I just noticed the substantial brass arm mount you made for the Terminator. You probably had a sense that a single point rod type mount is not as stable. 

Ledoux, thanks for your kind words. Glad you have the new arm too.

Firstly, I must point out that it´s an honour and a privilege to be a part of developing this extraordinary arm and I´m proud of my contribution but we must thank Andrey the Machinist for all this development come real. Indeed it has been a long way to getting to this point, for both of us.
  When I first saw Terminator and its unique design online in late Autumn 2008 I immediately emailed Vic and simply bought his arm and haven´t looked back. I have come thru all the improvements and now it´s time to enjoy the fruits of hard work and sit back and just listen to music.
The first time when sliding the saddle over a record before playing it I instantly noticed that the saddle moved more smoothly on air cushion. This means that less air pressure is needed and thus less resonances in the saddle. Well, this was Vic´s initial idea: only low pressure air flow will work just fine. Actually, I have never been exited about fancy and costly high pressure "solutions" and now they are totally futile.
And yes indeed all this is due to better machining of air holes in brass.  Brilliant.

As for Fozgometer and azimuth perfection, I have never tried but maybe I should because now we have reached a level where a minute adjustment may make a difference. The same with VTA. Small differences really, I think.
Yes even without help of meters I´m hearing minute but significant differences in sound quantity and quality. And the more capable the cartridge is the more nuances I hear.

But the first impression is bass response, more quantity and quality. Instant notice.
Secondly heard deeper space, also a bit wider too but not so much. Deeper space with more micro detail (nuances) in there.
And overall feel that music flows more freely, smoother than previously.

And you are right about the importance of the arm column, it needs be very stable and on my deck it MUST be very heavy. That´ll do the trick.

Harold, I can confirm all your listening impressions: pronounced quality and quantity of bass, deeper soundstage, more natural organic flow of music ( compared with my previous SME V ). What you are saying is that the new upgrades are not nuanced sonic improvements, but clearly audible from the previous version of the Terminator. I have been corresponding to another long time Terminator owner. He has very recently decided on upgrading, so he should be in for quite a nice surprise. 

Being such an early adopter of the Terminator without audition, there must something in the original Ladegaard Evolution , Vic's execution, ..etc that was more convincing than other linear arms. If you were to survey linear tracking arms, there is, dare I say, a 'simplicity' to the Terminator arm that even a novice like myself can comprend. I got it.

The barrier of entry for linear tracking arm has typically been quite high. The Eminent   2.5 and ClearAudio TT5 are the 'cheapest' ( MG1.1's are out of production ) and Airtangent is quite a bit higher. These are all 3x to 8x the price point of a Terminator. It is a testament to Vic, Andrey, and enthusiasts like yourself, that have pursued quality over price, and allow late comers like myself to enter the game. 

I've enjoyed reading here. This tonearm has been on my short list for years and now, reading of the latest refinements, it's very tempting. My only drawback is my decades long ownership of the ET-2.5 that I've been loyal to and have future plans for with Bruce's latest refinements. I've spent years and treasure acquiring the necessary components ( high-end compressor, etc....) We'll see..............