Audiomods V Tonearm vs. Transfi Terminator T3Pro

[sbank]

Hi Guys,

My first post here aside from the welcoming welcomes.

So pondering possibilities as I divest from my big VPI belt drive beast to free up funds and leaning towards going with an SL1200 project. As I read up here and elsewhere on SL1200 mods my thinking is that if I choose this route I will jump right in with bearing replacement(Mike New or Funk), power supply upgrade(probably KAB), feet(Isonoe or Star Sound Audiopoints), mat(too damn many options!) and tonearm replacement. After reading many positives of the similarly priced Audiomods V Tonearm & Transfi Terminator T3Pro I was wondering if anyone has done any comparative listening between them?

A few other points that might be worth mentioning:

- I own a number of 45rpm and other heavyweight reissue LPs. In my system, visitors & I clearly hear benefits of easily repeatable VTA which I typically adjust by having 3 numerical preferred settings for 200g, 180g and conventional LPs, and occasionally adjusting by ear from there. My current tonearm allows for on-the-fly adjustment which I don't think is really needed as long as it can easily be set before lowering the arm.

- Current cartridge is van den hul Colibri XGP which is very light at under 6g. If the tonearm is a good match, terrific, but selling the Colibri and trying something else might be fun. I am a bit surprised that many here seem to prefer arms with easily changeable headshells and rotating a stable of cartridges. My approach has always been towards eliminating the connection points of removable headshells makes sense and pooling my resources towards one best all-around cart at whatever budget. I don't have too many mono LPs, so no mono cart is needed.

- Current Aqvox phono stage has tons of flexibility in terms of gain options and impedance matching, so no issues there. One concern is that the inputs are balanced XLR only. My Aqvox cable has RCAs at the turntable end and XLRs to the phono stage. Any tonearm with "continuous run of wire from cart to plugs" would need to be wired with XLRs if that's an option or would require RCA/XLR adapters which potentially add EMI/RFI. This point argues in favor of the Transfi unless I am missing something.

So at this point I'm thinking one of these arms would be a better fit for me than other contenders, mainly Jelco or SME309. I admit some concern about the setup and user-friendliness of the Transfi, as a friend who owns one seems to have issues with it on many occasions when I've wanted to listen. Overall he is happy with it, but my perception on a small number of data points is that his has been finicky even after initial setup. OTOH, its design seems a bit of genius and great value. I am not a technical savant, but having lived with many valve(us Yanks call them "tube") amps and vintage electrostatics I am a proven glutton for punishment.

Any advice on which arm might make a better choice for me? Thanks in advance.

[YNWaN]

The Transfi is, in my view, inherently flawed. Is is based on an arm intended as a DIY project and in that respect is cunning in its design. However, the air bearing really should be of a constrained nature (not just gravity acting on mass) and even the slightest variation from level will apply huge horizontal forces.

XLR/RCA adaptors won't add EMI/RFI - what makes you think they would? In any case, it is easy enough to fit XLRs to any potential phono cable.

[Mikeandvan]

I read that someone preferred £15 isolation feet to the much more expensive isos

[YNWaN]

Here is the original arm that the transfi has taken its ideas from:

http://n4rp.com/airbearingarm.html

Originally developed by Poul Ladegaard.

[sbank]

The Transfi is, in my view, inherently flawed. the air bearing really should be of a constrained nature (not just gravity acting on mass) and even the slightest variation from level will apply huge horizontal forces.

XLR/RCA adaptors won't add EMI/RFI - what makes you think they would?

In practice with the Transfi is variations from level an issue? I haven't seen any comments yet indicating that has been a problem for any users.

Regarding XLR/RCA adapters, IMHE, every additional interface adds potential for EMI/RFI, especially in dealing with low level phono signals. Hence, so many tonearm designs with single runs from end to end. Having lived a few hundreds yards from a radio tower I've long dealt with fighting EMI/RFI with a variety of tube and solid state phono stages. Unless building a copper Faraday cage around the room (my wife wouldn't appreciate that), I think there is potential noise-fighting benefit to avoiding adapters if a reasonable alternative is an option.

[YNWaN]

EMI/RFI issues likely to be associated with the use of valve equipment are in another league of probability compared to the issues likely (or unlikely) to occur with RCA/BBC adaptors. In any case, as I wrote before, it's easy enough to fit BNC connectors instead of RCAs - I'm surprised you don't know this.

Air bearing arms are far from the panacea that some manufacturers would have you believe. They can be done well, but at a cost and even then they still struggle to overcome the problems they introduce.

I've seen and heard the Transfi arm a number of times and on three different turntables. In every case it was very temperamental and keen on leaving the groove at the slightest opportunity.

[sbank]

EMI/RFI issues likely to be associated with the use of valve equipment are in another league of probability compared to the issues likely (or unlikely) to occur with RCA/BBC adaptors. In any case, as I wrote before, it's easy enough to fit BNC connectors instead of RCAs - I'm surprised you don't know this.

My experience has been that valve phono stages are certainly more noise-prone than ss ones, but I do know plenty who haven't had any trouble with their valve phono stages in their homes, but we are straying from the topic of the pros/cons of these two tonearms for my situation.

Just because I mentioned having to change plugs as a possibility doesn't mean that I don't know "it's easy" to do so. A bit condescending and disappointing, Mark. That comment surprised me and doesn't really further the conversation.

[sbank]

I've seen and heard the Transfi arm a number of times and on three different turntables. In every case it was very temperamental and keen on leaving the groove at the slightest opportunity.

Thank you, that is very helpful information. I appreciate you sharing it. Do others here have similar or opposing experience?

[Clive]

Thank you, that is very helpful information. I appreciate you sharing it. Do others here have similar or opposing experience?

Hi Spencer, I'll happy contribute my thoughts.

Mark has experienced my T3Pro several years ago. I suspect this may have taken place a couple of times, probably when it was on my 301 and later on my Salvation. I did indeed have an issue with the stylus jumping out of the groove if it hit a relatively minor piece of dirt. This was not the fault of the arm. Here's what transpired:

- it only ever occurred with my London Reference, not with several other cartridges I've used
- Deccas/Londons are renowned for being picky about less than scrupulously clean records
- the culprit was eventually tracked down to the cantilever of my London Reference

I had John Wright give my Reference a check up as the Paratrace tip had suddenly shown signs of wear (after a few years). John replaced both the tip and cantilever as he receives the Paratrace tips already attached to the cantilever. Now miraculously the Reference is very well behaved with no hint of groove jumping. John says there was something not right about the original cantilever....what it was I don't know.

So what about all this level stuff I hear you ask. Firstly it's important to realise that some of what most of us learnt about setting up pivoted arms is not relevant with other aspects being more critical. None of it is rocket science, it's common sense. Pivoted arms are mounted in such a way that they are almost bound to end up level or close to level but if it doesn't....well who checks for this with a pivoted arm? The T3Pro "manifold" can be adjusted to be perfectly level, there is azimuth adjustment too. What I do is to level the deck using a sensitive bubble level, then I place the bubble level on the manifold and level that. Simples. Leveling lasts a long time, at least several months; if it's out you notice the stylus doesn't drop quickly into the groove on the LP lead-in - this is something I've experienced with pivoted arms but there's no simple adjustment to correct the issue.

[Ammonite Audio]

The levelling procedure that Clive describes above is what everyone should be doing when setting up a tonearm, whether pivoted or linear tracking. If a linear tracker is not set truly level, then the sled will wish to slide downhill, imparting a potentially large sideways force on the stylus that makes bias correction in conventional pivoted arms feel like a gentle waft from a gnat's wing. Bias correction is something that merits discussion in itself, and something that linear trackers don't need, of course. The lack of tracing error in a good linear tracker is clearly a Good Thing, but the unfortunate truth is that eliminating such errors does not guarantee a decent sounding arm. The inherent compromises in a pivoted arm more often result in better sound, at more approchable prices, with far more convenient operation.

Regarding Paratrace tips, I have noticed that they do wear quickly, and this was confirmed to me by ESCo a gew years ago when a cartridge that they had re-tipped needed a new tip after only a year or so. ESCo do state a very modest number of hours life for the Paratrace, which does not compare very favourably with other makers' claims.