Highly recommended.
I received my Terminator Arm with Tomahawk wand in December 2011. It replaced a Nottingham Analogue Mentor arm on a late model Nottingham Analogue Mentor turntable.
Improved clarity and soundstage was immediate. Extended listening simply confirmed my earlier impressions, and friends with Schroeder arms also appeared impressed. Vic (Mr. Terminator) is more than easy to deal with, he seemed to be on a mission to improve my system.
Vic makes a point of mentioning several limitations. After using the arm for a few hours, these did not seem like limitations at all, just aspects of a novel design. The only exception is getting used to not plopping an LP vertically onto the turntable, but rather angling it in. Still, no bother, even the first time.
Setup is easy. VTA is almost trivial. VTF is easy and stable. Azimuth is adjustable, but it's a little fiddly, and cannot be done on the fly. Having said that, it is entirely clear what is going on, so it is easy to get an approximate setting and work from there. Perhaps the Talea improves on this aspect, at 5x the price, but it probably loses more on the tradeoffs inherent in a conventional design.
Perhaps I should mention that I am a clarity freak, using electrostatic speakers. It is in this context that I am very pleased with the purchase, and recommend it highly.
I received my Terminator Arm with Tomahawk wand in December 2011. It replaced a Nottingham Analogue Mentor arm on a late model Nottingham Analogue Mentor turntable.
Improved clarity and soundstage was immediate. Extended listening simply confirmed my earlier impressions, and friends with Schroeder arms also appeared impressed. Vic (Mr. Terminator) is more than easy to deal with, he seemed to be on a mission to improve my system.
Vic makes a point of mentioning several limitations. After using the arm for a few hours, these did not seem like limitations at all, just aspects of a novel design. The only exception is getting used to not plopping an LP vertically onto the turntable, but rather angling it in. Still, no bother, even the first time.
Setup is easy. VTA is almost trivial. VTF is easy and stable. Azimuth is adjustable, but it's a little fiddly, and cannot be done on the fly. Having said that, it is entirely clear what is going on, so it is easy to get an approximate setting and work from there. Perhaps the Talea improves on this aspect, at 5x the price, but it probably loses more on the tradeoffs inherent in a conventional design.
Perhaps I should mention that I am a clarity freak, using electrostatic speakers. It is in this context that I am very pleased with the purchase, and recommend it highly.