Trans-Fi Audio

THE TERMINATOR TONEARM

high end performance, not high end price!

".....a tonearm that is only accurately aligned at 2 points across a record is about as good as a stopped clock that shows the correct time twice a day......." Clive Meakins, referring to a conventional pivot arm.

Read Clive Meakins 'Enjoy The Music' Review

Lenco Heaven Review 2009

HiFi World Review 2009

Audiogon Review

Pic of Terminator T3Pro with latest ORBERUS Turntable

UPDATE OCTOBER 2009:

Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I have had to lose the TERMINATOR logo on the next batch of mounting plates. The wands are running so short now that the cartridge tags are fouling the upright surface of the plate. This has been removed now not allowing room for the logo.

Features: on-the-fly VTA adjustment with engraved millimeter scale giving a range of 12mm, solid alloy mounting block, & cosmetic improvements. Retro-fitable to Terminator 1 & 2.

Note: Latest Terminators have lost the logo (pic above) to allow clearance for cartridge tags.

Pictures below:

The original Ladegaard inspired Evolution tonearm has undergone a revolution: its been turned upside-down, & transformed into The Terminator!

Turning the original design on its head has improved the design in a number of ways:

Air now remains trapped under the sliding saddle for longer resulting in better floating requiring less air flow. This reduces pump noise & hiss from the airbearing, which is now practically inaudible.

With its underslung carriage, the wand is now below the centre of gravity thus increasing its stability. This gives better tracking with high compliance, low vertical tracking force cartridges.

It will now also fit Turntables with the shallowest of platters.

In addition, a new cantilevered universal mounting system will allow Terminator to fit onto any TT provided with a hole for a conventional pivot arm.

Note: If the hole does not fall within the yellow marked area, an adaptor plate can be supplied.

The single point slot fixing, as distinguished by the large delrin washer on the front face, allows the Terminator to move up & down as well as tilt. Simple accessible thumbscrew adjustments for VTA & level make setting up for different cartridges a breeze! See mounting instructions here.

However, the BIGGEST single advantage of this new design is the tonearm can be suspended OVER the platter. This results in a short wand with an effective length of only 4.5" or less, & a typical weight with cartridge & counterweight of less than 80g.

Keeping the wand short reduces resonances within the arm which typically colours the music. It is probably one of the major influences contributing to the overall sound of a tonearm. Manufacturers of conventional pivoted arms go to great lengths to try to eliminate resonances. They have a hard job!

Together with a lightweight slider, Terminator has the lowest lateral inertia of ANY airbearing tonearm on the market weighing in at just over 100g including the saddle, counterweight & cartridge, allowing safe tracking of the fussiest high compliant cartridge.

Because Terminator splits the Horizontal & Vertical components using 2 different bearings, air for the horizontal movement, & a mechanical blade bearing for the vertical, the relative inertias are independently variable simply by adding weight to either the slider.....

........or to the new 'Vari-mass' headshell.

Note: in the event of a power failure, have no fear! Because the vertical component is mechanical, the stylus will still be able to skip over grooves & will not run the risk of being damaged!

Pics of the Terminator 2 model

Note: No longer in production. Replaced by T3Pro. Used exchanged units may be available

Features polished anodized carrier & slider

NEW 'Vari-mass' headshell where the mass can be increased or decreased to suit compliance. Choice of cartridge fitting with either threaded or unthreaded holes on the same headshell.