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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
redcars
11 posts
 
Hi Albert,
Thanks for your nice words.

Did I mention that my regulator is designed for 0-2 psi, and the gage for 0-3 psi.  I think that it is important that these items work accurately under 1 psi.

No problem with the CF wand and the GFS.  And Andrey told me that the Ortofon Anna worked well.  I did have to take one of the extra brass weights and attach it to the top of the counterweight with double-stick tape.

Best,
Don

ledoux1238 OP
284 posts
 
Don,

I did pay attention to the gauge you employed, 0-3 psi. Unfortunately, for us in the metric universe, the smallest gauge I was able to obtain is 1 kg /cm2 or 14 psi. I have a 0-3 psi and 0-5 psi gauge on order. The reading I am getting obviously is not well calibrated, in the 0.75 psi region. I took a pressure reading at the tonearm end, and the gauge barely moved, so I am guessing in the 0.1 psi region. 

With the gauge, I can begin to answer the question posed during an earlier post on the relationship between increased pressure and surge tanks. The simple answer is that the Terminator operates at around 0.1 - 0.5 ( ? ) psi taken at the tonearm end regardless of  the amount of output pressure at the compressor end. Once the 0-3 psi gauge arrives, I’ll be able to be more precise.


ledoux1238 OP
284 posts
 
Over the past week, I followed old threads on the Terminator from the forum Lenco Heaven. Apparently there were quite a few early adopters of the arm circa 2009, pre - Tomahawk days. I’d like to share a few interesting notes:

1. Vic designed a custom wand for the SPU during the early days. This is a 30g cartridge, mind you. While it was not plug-n-play, the written, Daiwok, eventually got it to sing. That’s 30g !

2. There was a summary of the pressure levels required for the various linear trackers, e.g. The Rockport and the Kuzma operate in the 35 psi region, ET-2s’ around 5 psi, and The Terminator, MG -1, and other low pressure arms, less than 1 psi . This correlates with the actual useages of Don and Terry. Having received my 0-3 psi gauge, I am operating in the 0.5 psi range. 

3. Additional Surge tanks and air filtration are required to get the best out of the Terminator. And this does not mean just running long hoses. What is required are devices to modulate, damp, and minimize the air pulsation of the compressor.

4. Daiwok had done extensive comparisons between the Terminator and other top grade arms. At one point he had a Rockport ( not sure which model ) in his listening den. And according to him, putting the Terminator/ Lenco PTP in the ring did not produce a Rockport knockout. 

The above observations were from 2009 - 2010. Here we are at 2021. Don is the most recent adopter of the Terminator with positive results. I know this has been said before, but the Terminator has to be one of the audio gems with a bargain  basement price to boot!
terry9
2,347 posts
 
Pz wand continues to impress. A record which was having tracking/distortion issues with the Tomahawk (Renaissance Lute music on BASF label) is now just plain good listening. Five hours yesterday.


ledoux1238 OP
284 posts
 
Terry,

Congrats on the success of the Panzerholz wand. It looks like your are getting very comfortable with it. 

FYI, the link below shows a pre-Tomahawk wand carrying an Ortofon SPU :  https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=1539.0. 

I recall reading that there are maybe a thousand Terminators in circulation. The figure seems high to me. I think there are less than fifty Air-tangents in the world. 
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