Trans Fi Salvation direct rim drive turntable


Hi A'goners, I've just bought this turntable, confident it'll be my last upgrade. The rest of my system is a Tom Evans Groove Plus SRX phono stage, EMM Labs CDSA SE cd player, Hovland HP200 pre/Radia power amps, Zu Definitions Mk 4 loudspeakers, so a pretty good way to listen to vinyl.

Over the years, since 1995 I've progressed from a Roksan Xerxes/Artemiz/Shiraz, via a Michell Orbe/SME V/Transfiguration Orpheus, finally ending up last week with my new Trans Fi Salvation/Trans Fi T3Pro Terminator/Zu modded Denon 103.

This turntable (£2500 UK price, approx $4000-$5000 US) is the brainchild of Vic, a retired dentist, who, fed up with the shortcomings of belt drive and traditionally-pivoted tone arms, literally from the ground up devised first the Terminator air bearing linear tracking tone arm (now in T3Pro guise as on my system), and now the direct rim drive Salvation turntable, a technology in direct opposition to the hegemony of belt drive we've come to accept from the '70s.

In summary, he has developed a motor that directly rim drives an oversize platter. The magic is that vibrations are drained away from the platter and hence stylus. So minimal rumble is transmitted, the weakness of Garrards/Lencos in the past. This is mated to a substantial slate plinth which does a great job of isolating the whole rig from external vibrations.

Where this differs from direct drive is that the torque applied is high enough to counteract stylus drag, but it is strictly analogue controlled ie no digital feedback applying constant micro speed control. Speed is set correctly, torque is sufficient, and speed stability is like a rock.

This is combined with his air bearing linear tracking arm, discussed on other threads.

So technical description over, how about how it sounds? Well, years ago I always assumed the overhang in bass when playing lps on my previous belt drive/pivoted arm tts, apparent as a benign artifact, was all part of the 'romance' of vinyl, esp. when compared to the dry, clinical sound of early cd. But in 2007 I acquired the EMM cd, which had a natural analogue sound playing silver discs, but none of this bass colouration. On studying the growing reemergence of idler/direct drive, and their superiority in maintaining speed stability, I agreed that the belt speed instability might be introducing this.

Two years ago I came across Vic, and now I can report that eliminating the belt for high torque rim drive has taken this whole artifact out of the equation. Whole layers of previously masked information like rhythm guitars are now present, treble information has abundant naturalness and decay, and bass, which appears to be less in quantity compared to belt, is actually more accurate with a real start-stop quality, much more like digital, and the real thing. The other positives are more linked to the arm, including uncanny tracking across the whole record side; I'm really not exaggerating in saying that the last few grooves at the end of an lp side are as solidly reproduced as the first. Music with strong dynamic contrasts are really served well by the Salvation, and I am shocked at how good this all is after trepidation that the sound might be hyperdetailed but too assertive etc. In fact music is reproduced with a relaxed incision, and a welcoming detailed transparency.

The amazing thing is that all of this is not in anyway at the expense of the natural warmth and tonal dimensionality that still puts vinyl way ahead of any digital (imho).

The only thing, and Vic would like this to be known, is that his creation is a cottage industry, and he can only produce limited numbers to order.

I'm happy to answer qs on it, as I really want our community to know about a possible world beating product at real world prices. My tech knowledge will be limited, but no problem discussing sound quality issues.

I'm not affiliated in anyway to the product, just sold my Orbe on ebay and bought this. Regards to all
spiritofmusic

Spiritofmusic, I am not skeptical of the product's quality or your enthusiasm. I'm glad that you found something you like. But those familiar with me knows that I am weary of pornographic sonic descriptions, hence I no longer read audio review in its entirety. I know I am a minority here as audio is not about purchasing decision; it's about educating myself about the hobby which is entertainment in itself. Once I get pass the positive tone, I just want to know why and how or what you hear correlates with the product's features. What component or feature is responsible for a certain quality in the sound. For example, the lack of metal to metal contact vertically may contribute to blacker background or the incorporation of a better motor contributes a smoother rotation and smoother texture in the sound, etc.... I don't mean it to be so technical but just something for me to bite on instead of the gushing of a fanboy. Even an educated guess would still be more inducive for discussion. There are hundreds of posts already so I might have missed something of that nature and if so, I apologize. I was one of the earliest lurkers on Trans-Fi's site before he made it into a commercial product, especially his pages of Lenco mods that were entertaining and informative to read. And I'm happy that he found success and "worshiper" like you to reward his hard work.

You know what, just don't mind this curmudgeon and carry on. You're doing just fine. :)

_______
Hiho, I'll do my best. Linear tracking I'm sure we all agree is the theoretical best tech for tonearms mimicking the way the grooves are cut. But it's often too much of a tech challenge to bring about successfully. Well, I can say Vic has managed it in a package that is neater and less prone to operational issues than say what I've heard from the Kuzma Airline, and which at a real world price really gives an advantage over the many pivoted 9" and 12" arms I've heard. It seems to be tonally neutral and transparent. Now, this could mean a sound that is precise but bleached, but nothing could be further from the truth. It has a real start-stop quality like music in real life, but fantastic tone and texture, and this combination of speed and tonal colour is really addictive, and I for one won't be able to go back to a pivoted arm. This is all I believe to correct groove tracing, a short arm wand which is much less likely to be prone to vibrations, and a freedom from vibrations which transmits less colourations. Let me tell you, I so am unaware of tracking errors, that as I came to the lead out grooves of the first lps I listened to, the lack of side-end distortions meant I was really unaware the lp side was coming to an end.
So we have a tonally neutral, but full sound, with speed and transparency, and the elimination of so many analog like tracking distortions with no reduction in the analog "vibe", makes it pretty unique. IMHO.
So, onto the Salvation tt. Vic has spent many a long month finalising his motor to maximise torque, but maintain speed stability, and after many false dawns he found the solution, which is different in execution from say the superficially similar TT Weights tt's. I'm not privy to what these are, but I believe it's obviating the need for an O-ring, keeping the drive wheel small, and having the highest torque motor possible. Additionally, he has dispensed with a speed measuring feedback system like the Grand Prix Monaco tt (which samples the speed 1600 x/sec), preferring a totally analog system where the speed is set w/high torque, and is not sampled and varied accordingly. I believe many of the other dd alternatives have a low torque motor, with a feedback loop, to continually adjust speed. Vic I believe sets the speed at a high torque, and this does a better job at dealing with speed variations caused by stylus drag etc. The end result of this is a highly energetic sound, with very little speed drift, and hence a clarity across the frequency band, transparency resulting from microdynamics which are fully expressed due to maximised speed stability, defeating stylus drag variations, with no "jitter" introduced by digital speed measuring/hunting/adjusting microsecond to microsecond, and synergy with an excellent tracking arm.
Dear Lewn, I didn´t know that the L-07D has a hybrid bearing, like Clearaudio´s ? Fine. Very interesting. No wonder Dave the Messenger prefers his L-07D over his heavily modded TNT. The L-07D must sound fantastic. Please tell more.
Hiho, I've taken some time out as you asked to precisely describe what I believe makes the Salvation/Terminator so special. But so far, no response. I'm still waiting...
I recently purchased a Salvation-Terminator combo per suggestion of one of the posters in this thread. Cost is $4675 with shipping and insurance.