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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
terry9
2,342 posts
 
@dover  

25 cm - what's it for, the Bismarck? (Just being pedantic. Think you mean mm - that's the danger with the metric system, one makes order of magnitude errors).

I agree about stability, at least to some extent. But after aging my 19mm for a year, it didn't seem to shift at all. Not that I've measured it. After sealing, I should think it's as good as any wood laminate. 

For the record, I laminated 7 pieces for my wand, much the same solution as yours. It's made from 7 pieces of aged 19mm epoxied together so the wand is constructed from 150 or so wood/phenolic laminations front to back.
ledoux1238 OP
283 posts
 
Terry,

Allowing wood to naturally air dry for a long period of time is the best way for it to settle and stabilize. I know of a woodworker who uses an alternating kiln / air dry process for over a year to prep wood for flooring application. 

Just to clarify, you are using a 19mm, 3/4 in, wand that you have epoxied from thinner laminates, correct? From what I understand, Panzerholz is compressed beech ( or birch, or maple ) impregnated in resin. It’s an industrial process whereby the lamination process is as important as the wood. I’m wondering why you chose to use your own epoxy? Why not use ready made 19mm piece? I must be missing something.

in any case, Panzerholz is opening a whole new can of worms for me, following a WTF thread on the subject with great interest. It seems that the base of the Clearaudio Statement TT uses Panzerholz and steel lamination. Interestingly, Clearaudio describes it as ‘ bullet proof wood ‘!

Don, 

 Are you in in possession of the Terminator? Please report back. Thanks!
dnicol
19 posts
 
About heavier carts, I had a hard time getting an ~10 gram cart to sound right, the other problem is it has very low compliance, about 10.

The only way I found was to just add mass. Didn't want to use the carbon wand at first since it was so light, which may not be a great match.

I started by adjusting the manifold away from spindle so I could mount the cartridge almost to the very end of the wand, keeping stylus in line with spindle. Then after much trial and error, adding ~12 grams on top of cart, (using a mix of stainless steel and brass) and then using ~22-24 grams of counterweights, (again mixing different materials), this worked very well for me. Moving the counter weights closer to the pivot points did not work well for me, contrary to popular opinion. My counter weights are all the way to the end. Adding weight to the cart end first, then figuring out how much counterweight is needed if placed at furthest point, worked best, this way I should be getting more effective mass/inertia as well.

I did try adding weight over the pivot points, but that did not seem to really buy me anything.

I believe that a very low compliance cartridge needs mass, and apparently the tomahawk is suited more for medium to higher compliance carts. Coupled with a heavier cartridge seems to make it tougher to dial in as well. It has been easier to get higher compliance carts, and lighter weight carts, to sing on this arm, for sure.

So using that method, now I'm using the carbon wand and it's fantastic.

terry9
2,342 posts
 
dnicol, I went much the same route. One way I added mass was to put a nickel silver disk (copper alloy: 770?) on top of the cartridge, and tap two holes for cartridge mounts (#3-56). The disk acted as a great big nut for the cartridge screws. But like my KRSP too much to switch.

ledoux, I will try to clarify. (1) start with a sheet of 19mm Panzerholz; (2) cut 7 blocks sized 25mm x 50mm; (3) glue the blocks together to obtain a bigger block 25mm x 50mm x 140mm. Note that the ’grain’ in the Pz block runs from side to side, so that vibration from the cartridge must pass through, not along, many layers of wood and many layers of resin, and consequently across hundreds of boundaries.

This block is then shaped into a wand, which further restricts resonance by changing dimensions: wider and thinner in front, narrower and thicker at the pivot. Obviously would have been easier to cut a 50mm x 140mm piece out of the Pz sheet, but vibration would have been conducted down the sheets of wood. Constrained layer damping works best when vibration has to cross boundaries.

Hope that helps.
ledoux1238 OP
283 posts
 
@dnicol,
The timing of your post is uncanny. Prior to last week, I had been playing with a zyx ultimate 100, the entry level cartridge at 5 g - very enjoyable. More importantly it worked very well with the Terminator, I got to experiment with pump, surge tanks...etc without worrying about the compatibility issues, weight, compliance...etc. And it was pure luck. 
Last week, I installed a new cartridge, Audio Tekne MC-6310. There is no information on weight or compliance that I could find. I have not measured, but it’s probably 9-10g. I have set the counterweight as far back on the wand as possible using the supplied single copper disc, 5g. The MC is positioned as far out on the other end as possible, tracking at 1.8 g. I thought I had it with the first few days of listening. Then last night, playing a few records (  Bill Evans’ Tokyo and Paris concerts ), the sound became unlistenable, the piano was shrill, soundstage was off...etc. Not until reading your post did I know the problem. This morning I added weights as you described, but in the 5-7g range, not as heavy as where you ended up. And sure enough things began to turn for the better. Records I thought was good have now deeper soundstage, more transparency...etc, and ‘bad’ records are coming around. 
My question is how did you arrive at the 12g weight on the cartridge end? I know our cartridges are probably different, hence different compliance. I may not end up where you are. But wondering if you had gone over 12g and found it not to be optimal?
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