Terminator tonearm

Probably of limited use of you're a 'set once and forget' fella, but I suppose it is there to take account of the variance in thickness from one LP to another.

 

robM, can mass not be added to the slider to deal with this? I saw this on Vic's site.

VTA on-the-fly - I don't know why either - I guess it allows for adjustment of VTA while the music is playing i.e when best sound is achieved. I could possibly see myself continually meddling with this though!

 

Rob speak to Vic I am sure he have a good idea to sort it out.
I heard the Denon 103 on Vic system and that needs a bit of mass and that sounded good
As to VTA on the fly I guess because people want it

 

VTA on the fly - A mate of mine more into vinyl than me reckons the machines used to cut the masters will have different setups / tolerances - so are all a tiny bit different...

 

Hey Speedy, did you get that terminator yet? I'm dying to hear your report on it mounted on SL1210

 

Er nope. I've been making one See

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2529
(sorry for the cross site post)

Should be on the Techy deck tomorrow - just spent some time today making an arm lift mech. Also need to make a stop so the whole arm can't just tip over the back once critical mass/angle is reached ~ 45 deg angle.

 

Looking forward to it Steve - decided to build it yourself - good work

 

mass on the carrier doesn't work with the Winfeld. I think the Termiator with it's ULTRA LOW mass tonearm just isn't cut out for a cartridge like the Winfeld.

 

Right. After a few sessions here is the low down on the air bearing arm.

Startling clear & detailed mid range. Hear some delicacy's and nuances that are new. Top end was a little fizzy - cured by damping the vertical knife edge bearing with Bluetac. Perhaps need to make something more solid than a Stanley blade?
Bass was light so I increased the total lateral mass of the arm / carriage.
Some improvement but the same cart (AT 33PTG) still sounds more composed overall in the O.L Rega RB250 arm.

Still not quite there yet then:-
Need to try more mass on the arm or a heavier arm all together.
Need to put the air pump out of the listening room - broom cupboard perhaps better than outside as one can get condensation problems with cold air to warm room.
Need to improve the arm lift system to make it more pleasant to use.

Probably not worth developing this arm further.
On to mkII an inverted air bearing with underslung shorter and arm...
OR
Just buy the Terminator for a turnkey solution.

The only reference point I have is the fully OL modded Rega RB250 arm - I would live to try a Jelco 750 or even SME309 (even more money) to compare against.

Food for thought.