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

@qwin HA! HA! It was quite presumptuous of me to think that you would. My apologies! What would be helpful is if you would share the CAD file or a PDF file of the mounting plate. If not, your photos are quite clear, I’ll be able to figure it out. 
 

I have been working on dressing the phono wires as you have this year. My scheme is quite primitive in comparison to yours, but I use medical tape. It’s very thin and about 4cm wide. I tape it on the slider, make a slit at the center, and pull the wires underneath the tape. It works fine. 
 

I think when you start to work on the air filtration tanks, you will find a further improvement on SQ. I am up to 150L of air filtration with a combination of various 20L plastic and stainless steel tanks. But I am in the process of simplifying the tanks by getting a 120L single stainless steel tank with a couple of 20L ones to supplement, less contact point for leakage. Please update your experience when appropriate. 

Sorry I can’t help folks out with these, but some details of the Bracket and other tweaks can be found Here:

And my purpose made Turntable for the Arm Here:

I don't have CAD files for the part, but I will see if I can knock out a dimensioned drg.
I got a local machine shop to mill the three slots, I made the rest using hand tools and a belt sander.
Note the mounting slots are specific to my DIY deck and may not suit others.

I knocked out a dimensioned drg for my Mounting Plate, in Coral Draw. Its linked on my website and also below. Feel free to use this in a non commercial way, if you so wish. DRG

@qwin Thanks a million for the drawing!  As you indicted, the mounting slots are for your TT. I will use  the existing mounting slots for my arm. 

There have been a few occasions when I accidentally bumped into the far end of the cantilevered slider. And there would be a slight twisting at the mountinf plate, not enough to cause a cartridge mis-alignment. But I did wonder about the structural integirty of the plate. You solution solved it. Brilliant!

 

I noticed the Mounting plate twisted when I was levelling the manifold/Slider. I would get it just right, hovering in the middle and when I tightened the Pivot Bolt the plate twisted and the slider moved at speed to the right. So almost impossible to set accurately. Every time I adjusted VTA it would throw it out.

If you notice, I have turned the slots through 90 deg.
This allows me to position a cartridge anywhere in the long Wand mounting slots and make adjustment at the Mounting plate to accommodate this.
The stock slots are about compatibility with the most number of decks.
Make the slot positions to suit your own deck and run them front to back, in my opinion, this is more useful. I used M5 bolts in 6mm slots. This gives more than enough wiggle room to align the manifold angle.

Wow, I don’t think my Missus would go for a 150L smoothing tank in the living room.
My pump has two outlets, the output oscillates from one to the other.
Common practice is to use a "Y" connector and join the two, before entering the tank at a single location. I am going to try feeding the tank with both outputs individually. Joining two 4mm tubes into one 4mm tube must restrict flow or cause back pressure.
Then I’ll try filling the tank with Polystyrene balls 4 to 6mm diameter.
The air will have to find its way through all the fine passages between the balls, or it may even act like a fluid bed, the air lifting the very light balls. I’m not sure if the flow/pressure is sufficient to do this, so its a suck it and see.
I will fit an inline filter, after the Tank, to stop any small particles going down the line into the manifold. It wouldn’t take much to block the holes in the manifold.