Top linear trackers

@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.

Surely the Thales twin-tube tonearm achieves much of what linear-tracking arms set out to do, but without the inherent drawbacks of linear-trackers.

It seems to me that the biggest strengths of the Terminator are:

1. adjustability - everything is adjustable. All adjustments are intuitive. VTA and horizontality can be done on the fly. I would wish for more accurate adjustment of tangentiality, but no linear tracker is any better; I think. Azimuth is very precisely adjustable, but fiddly.

2. tweakability - It is easy to increase mass. It is easy to increase damping. It is easy to install a new wand, and not that complex to design one. It is a simple matter to build a second tower to support the other end of the beam, and incorporate a fine adjustment of horizontality. But this sacrifices easily adjustable VTA.

Likewise the greatest weakness seems to have been missed: vertical movement is allowed by two pivot screws which are set into two 90 degree vee’s. This junction is not inherently stable, but it’s stable enough for most records.

Conclusion: I own two, and consider them the best bargain in high end. One is on a Nottingham Analogue Mentor (updated to Dais standards), the other on a DIY air bearing which features an air cushion in all 3 dimensions. I’m hoping my DIY linear tracker will solve the T’s problems without introducing new ones, but hey, that’s DIY for you.