Trans Fi Salvation rim drive tt and Terminator air-bearing linear tracking arm

Finally after 22 long months, I get my analog rig reinstalled. If there’s any interest in it, I’m very happy to chat further.
To kick off, here’s the link to the designer’s web page:

www.trans-fi.com Step009.jpg
 
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c1, there are some similarities w the also-discontinued TTWeights Gem rim drive tts from a few years back.

Massy plinth, heavy oversize platter, reliance on high torque direct rim-drive.

The big difference w the Salvation is Vic the designer eschewed the TTW Teres Verus-style motor using servo and O-rings, for an analogue, non-servo, non-feedback motor, using an oversize Delrin rim wheel.

The Verus could never be relied on by Vic. Additionally, he found any servo feedback introduced both a cold colouration, and bass imprecision.

So he went for an overspecced motor, and speed controller that needs tweaking for accuracy every few days. Set and forget (well, for 48 hrs at least).

Vic's expts w speed/servo feedback control always produced a worse sound despite measurements being "superior".

Thanks for the description. I haven't heard very many rim-drive tt, but what I've heard I've liked!
 
c1, my choice of tt came directly from discovering the Terminator air bearing LT arm. In my humble opinion, at $1.5k, it remains the single greatest bargain in analog. An owner has compared it to SME IV, Airtangent, Airline and Graham arms, and feels it beats all these, at a fraction of the cost.

It then made sense to have the total package w designer Vic's vision on both arm and tt. I've gone on to mod the tt and arm w magnetic bearing and feet, bespoke arm mount and carbonfibre armwand, overspecced transformer to speed controller, and OTT vibration isolation in the form of inert slate stand and Stacore pneumatic platform.

A totally fascinating upshot of all this is a massive dropping of veils thru the mids/upper bass. What I always assumed was some euphonic warmth and opacity in my Zus is now revealed to be 100% the analog front end and not the spkrs.

To say my relief at this is palpable is no overstatement. And is a testament to the drive for more neutrality in a system being totally worthwhile. Any impulse I had to consider spkrs other than Zu is gone.

Not what I expected at all w the tt reinstall.
 
Bill, thanks for posting those whole room photos. They give a great sense of the context of Marc's system.

Marc, you stated on the TechDAS Zero thread that you preferred the bass performance of your air bearing LT Terminator arm to the SME V, and two other arms. Did you directly compare all three tonearms on your TransFi direct rim drive TT using the same cartridge? Could you describe a bit about the contexts in which you made these comparisons and how your reached your conclusions?

I thought I would ask you this again here rather than take that other thread more off topic. Thanks.

Peter
 
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Sure Peter, they were installed on my old Michell Orbe. Took a bit of finagling, because the pivoted arms worked on the stock arm mount, but the Terminator needed a little different.

What was fascinating was how contrary to expectation the Terminator was on bass. All 4 arms, SME V, Audio Origami/Syrinx, Origin Live, and Terminator LT, used my Transfiguration Orpheus and Zu modded Denon 103R carts, and the pivoted arms were, to be frank, slow and non-life like. The Terminator LT was/is deep, very start/stop, yet hugely extended and textured.

All caveated on the need for absolute precision on setup esp level.

Get that right, and the arm totally sings.
 
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I can tell you that I have no problems at all with thunderous room shaking bass delivered by the Vyger linear tracking arm. Much more textured than I ever experienced on the SME 30/2 (with V) in various systems I owned before the present horns.
 
I think Bill and my experiences (at diametric ends of the price/complexity spectrum) of air-bearing LT arms won't put to bed the urban myth that these arms "don't do bass". But they are two hugely important data points to the contrary.

There are umpteen other areas that air LTs are exemplary, but it seems that bass, or more accurately fear of missing bass, is the biggest unjustified criticism of them.

For me, the ability to have extension and texture, w lifelike explosive/start-stop presentation, feels v close to reality.

In my particular case these attributes are what then allows other positives to build upon, mids warmth and transparency, and upper freqs air and shimmer.

I have a fantastic US original pressing of Miles Davis "Nefertiti", and the presence/differentiation of Miles and Wayne is really palpable, a really tangible texture that I know my old SME V used to sound slow and fuzzy on.
 
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Sure Peter, they were installed on my old Michell Orbe. Took a bit of finagling, because the pivoted arms worked on the stock arm mount, but the Terminator needed a little different.

What was fascinating was how contrary to expectation the Terminator was on bass. All 4 arms, SME V, Audio Origami/Syrinx, Origin Live, and Terminator LT, used my Transfiguration Orpheus and Zu modded Denon 103R carts, and the pivoted arms were, to be frank, slow and non-life like. The Terminator LT was/is deep, very start/stop, yet hugely extended and textured.

All caveated on the need for absolute precision on setup esp level.

Get that right, and the arm totally sings.

Thanks for those details Marc. Sounds like a great arm and that more people should consider it.
 
Peter, Vic from a standing start, w no resources other than himself and a workbench, while doing his day job, fabricated a truly amazing analog transducer.

He went on to sell in excess of 250 over a decade production run until he brought things to an end. Andrey in Moscow has now taken on the mantle of production, w additions like nickel plating and more interestingly, carbon fibre armwand and slider.

A seasoned audiophile passed on SME IV, Airtangent, Airline and Graham to go for Terminator. That speaks volumes.
 
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Slightly adjusted version of carbonfibre armwand now installed. After quite a bit of ABing, I'm dispensing w the lp weight and periphery ring I was using.

Going back to playing lps au naturel as Vic the designer always intended.

The very opposite of mating the lp flat to the platter via weights, rings, vacuum hold-down. None of these, lps don't even sit on the platter, but on Delrin cones.

Anazingly, it all works, and works amazingly well. I remain in awe of Vic's Terminator air LT arm, a real marvel of economic engineering and real functional outcome. Can anyone imagine making an air bearing arm for sub $1.5k? It truly ticks so many boxes.
 
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Final adjustment today. Azimuth.

The new armwand has an integrated spirit level. So just needed a little finagling of armwand unipivot pts to get that pesky bubble centered.

And not a subtle SQ impvt. Better treble definition immed audible, not just stick definition on cymbals, but also better representation of the trashiness of bottom hi-hat. Drummers like Tony Williams esp show this extra liveliness w correct azimuth, his tidal flow of cymbals on late 60s Miles is a thing to behold, and the extra focus really helps.

Bass has an extra level of clarity, leading edge of walking bass in jazz is esp welcome, but no curtailing of the body and wood of bass, cello etc.

Critical thing is the extra pertinence in timing, much greater snap and vitality. But not at the expense of harmonic decay.

Listening to Also Sprach Zarasthustra on my 1973 R. Strauss lp boxset is a revelation as the tympani now fully resolves away from the rest of the orchestra, but the whole orchestra sounds more organic and together. Almost like live concerts where you can concentrate on listening to one set of musicians, or the whole band.

All from raising one side of the cart up c.1mm.
 
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It then made sense to have the total package w designer Vic's vision on both arm and tt. I've gone on to mod the tt and arm w magnetic bearing and feet, bespoke arm mount and carbonfibre armwand, overspecced transformer to speed controller, and OTT vibration isolation in the form of inert slate stand and Stacore pneumatic platform.

Hi,

Nice to read your enthusiasm for the Trans-Fi stuff. I have recently received my T3Pro from Andrey with a couple of wands and wiring options. My analogue plans have recently changed in that originally I was going to slip gently back into it with a table rebuild (L75) but have absolutely run out of time for the foreseeable future. So I changed tack and purchased a new table and it should be here in September. The new table has built in isolation and I am trying to determine if the T3Pro will work well on it or not.

I notice that you have the Salvation with its mag-feet which is then sat upon a Stacore platform, which is pneumatic and also with roller-blocks. That has to be a non-stable footing. How does the T3Pro handle the motion?

My new deck is a Helix 2, with the MinusK built in. It will come with the Schroder CB arm but there is the option for either a second arm or another armboard. I'd love to hear your experience.

Anthony
 
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Hi Anthony, can I commend you on yr good taste LOL, you've made an excellent choice in the Terminator arm. Yr tt looks fascinating as well. Out of interest, since you were considering a Lenco rebuild, did you ever consider the L50-based PTP and OMA restores?

You're under a little misaprehension on my tt setup. There are no Rollerblocks associated w the Stacore or Salvation tt.

Floor > NorthWest Analog/Slateage inert slate stand (50kg) > Stacore Advanced isolation platform (slate constrained layer design w pneumatics, 93kg) > Salvation tt w mag lev isolating feet > Terminator air arm.

So no Rollerblocks, but yes, the combination of mag lev feet in the tt and pneumatic action of the Stacore could have ended up fighting each other.

This was a real fear when my grand tt reinstall was initially a damp squib for 3 months. But as the sound came together, these fears were unfounded. The mag lev feet have minimal play in them, and there seem to be no ill effects combining w Stacore. And hence no problems using the Terminator arm in this setup.

I can see no issues w Terminator on the Helix, could be heavenly. Have you considered Owen's bespoke Al arm mount for Terminator? If not, I can pass you details. c.£200.
 
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Anthony, one other thought. I trialled the Minus K, and other than it not matching the Stacore in performance, the other area that gave me cause for concern was the marked oscillations set off in motion everytime the arm was lifted, or an lp dropped on/lifted up. I think I would have grown weary of waiting for the whole thing to settle down before dropping the needle. Day to day use of Terminator COULD be an issue in this respect. Unless the Helix has engineered some "damping" into this movement.
 
Out of interest, since you were considering a Lenco rebuild, did you ever consider the L50-based PTP and OMA restores?

Not really. I can keep one of the L75's and the parts I have here and do the build in my own time for a downstairs table. This would be more or less a PTP or perhaps even OMA type build. Apart from it being a great deck, the Helix being Australian made is a big selling point given the exchange rate for overseas built items (I'm Australian).

You're under a little misaprehension on my tt setup. There are no Rollerblocks associated w the Stacore or Salvation tt.

Floor > NorthWest Analog/Slateage inert slate stand (50kg) > Stacore Advanced isolation platform (slate constrained layer design w pneumatics, 93kg) > Salvation tt w mag lev isolating feet > Terminator air arm.

So no Rollerblocks, but yes, the combination of mag lev feet in the tt and pneumatic action of the Stacore could have ended up fighting each other.

Sorry, I meant rollerballs, ball bearings, not another commercial product. I understand they are used in the Stacore Advanced.

Have you considered Owen's bespoke Al arm mount for Terminator? If not, I can pass you details. c.£200.

I have considered something like that and could probably whip something up myself. Owen has supplied me with a record cleaning kit for ultrasonic baths, so we know of each other.
 
Anthony, you are dead right on the Rollerballs. All I can say is that my analog is transformed, first w Stacore, then Andrey's armwand and Owen's Al mount, and finally attention to detail on setup. My Terminator is well behaved, despite mag lev feet on tt, Rollerballs and pneumatic isolation in Stacore.
 
Anthony, one other thought. I trialled the Minus K, and other than it not matching the Stacore in performance, the other area that gave me cause for concern was the marked oscillations set off in motion everytime the arm was lifted, or an lp dropped on/lifted up. I think I would have grown weary of waiting for the whole thing to settle down before dropping the needle. Day to day use of Terminator COULD be an issue in this respect. Unless the Helix has engineered some "damping" into this movement.

No, I believe the table is still relatively undamped in its movements. Getting the record on and off the platter is the part that worries me a little in regards to the T3Pro/Helix combination. If the air is going and I set the table a rockin' then there is possibility for arm movement. At least I think there is...I've not used the arm yet, or the table.

But to be fair, that's not just a Terminator issue, it will be all arms.

Yes, but I would think the air bearing is more prone to problem than a normal pivoted arm. The Helix oscillates at circa 1.5Hz, so there is two-thirds of a second for the arm to zip off before it starts coming up again. If it does prove to be an issue, I suppose I could place a stop so the slider does not wander off the end of the manifold.
 
Anthony, you are dead right on the Rollerballs. All I can say is that my analog is transformed, first w Stacore, then Andrey's armwand and Owen's Al mount, and finally attention to detail on setup. My Terminator is well behaved, despite mag lev feet on tt, Rollerballs and pneumatic isolation in Stacore.

Thank-you for your help. It is nice to know that the arm can operate wonderfully on a non-stationary platform. Will be a nice shootout between the Schroder CB and the T3Pro...
 

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