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Clive
15-01-2011, 11:55
Finally it’s time for me to write up my thoughts on the Trans-Fi Salvation rim-drive record deck. Salvation is available in 2 forms, both come with the T3Pro arm included, the variance is down to the platter; for around £1,800 you get an acrylic platter, for around £2,200 you get a 9kg aluminium platter. I say “around” as the exact price is currently being finalised.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/P1153915.jpg

Trans-Fi products are no-nonsense. Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, would no doubt say there’s a complete lack of flimflam. Vic is Mr Trans-Fi; his philosophy is to build affordable high-performance products to a necessary and good level of engineering but he avoids turning his products into audiophile jewellery. Solid engineering based on performance-based principals is the mantra.

As both a designer and seller he is able to take his products to market without adding distributor and dealers margins or even VAT, at least for now, but sales of the deck may change the VAT situation, so it you want one don’t delay! Vic is an enthusiast who like most of us is searching for ways to produce the best sound. He designs and then initially tests his ideas out with parts he makes in his home workshop. When it’s time to make production parts they are outsourced to local machine shops, to be made in batches of 10 or 20 on CNC machines. The machine shops have varying demands placed on them so fighting to get parts delivered in time is a constant battle. When the parts are ready arms and decks are then checked and assembled personally in his workshop. You should not expect a new Salvation to be available from stock; this is a build-to-order item. Depending on the batch production cycle your order could take a few weeks to be fulfilled or you could be lucky and take delivery very quickly. If Salvation were available from dealer stock and all the additional margins added this £2,200 record deck would more likely cost in the region of £5,000 to £6,000. It would still good value but I for one am very pleased that Vic chooses to avoid this route.

If you visit http://www.trans-fi.com/turntable.htm you will get a flavour for the journey involved in producing the Salvation record deck. He has used Garrards, Lencos & Michells to name but a few, he has then modified them and improved them. He’s gained a fantastic knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. Rather than improve existing decks he found he finally had to bite the bullet and produce an entire new deck to achieve the level of performance he was aiming for. Every aspect is critical for performance and deciding on how to manage the power for the motor is probably one of the most critical along with the characteristics of motor chosen for the deck. Ultimately a lack of digital or feedback control in the power supply was found to give clear sonic advantages.

Previously I’ve reviewed the Trans-Fi air-bearing arm at www.enjoythemusic.com. The arm has since evolved into the T3Pro. Most developments are evolutionary and can be fitted as upgrades. Vic will not stand still, instead choosing to constantly refine his designs, though the T3Pro arm and Salvation record deck have probably reached the point where further evolutions will now be relatively rare. Then again he always has the ability to surprise me with his inventiveness so keep tabs on what he’s doing!

T3Pro arm with Tomahawk wand and London Reference cartridge:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/1007230011ed.jpg

The Trans-Fi Salvation is a rim-drive record deck which includes the astoundingly excellent T3Pro air-bearing arm. The arm is available separately at £770 in the UK including air pump and smoothing tank, it’s £740 for non-UK purchasers who are better sourcing the generic pump and tank locally. The arm offers a super- clean, transparent and consistent sound. Not only does this parallel tracking arm banish distortion which pivoted arms have inherent in their nature in all but 2 positions across the record, but also the T3Pro is far easier to set up accurately vs pivoted arms. You have to suspend your experience of setting up pivoted arms and revel in the simplicity of set up with the T3Pro. The beauty of setting up this arm is that you set it up in sequence. I hate pivoted arm setups where you move the cartridge fore and aft and often accidentally twist it in the headshell so you end up changing the alignment in two planes at once. None of this palaver exists with the T3Pro, simple sequential setup which is easy to do very accurately.

The T3Pro is the culmination of significant evolution, the original arm being based on Poul Ladegaard’s ideas. Since then the arm has been developed to sport an inverted air-bearing, VTA adjustment on-the-fly, simple levelling adjustability via 2 thumbwheels and it has the latest Tomahawk wand. The inverted air-bearing was a big step forward as was the shortening of the wand. The arm used to be positioned behind the platter, it is now positioned over the platter with the pivot to stylus tip distance being around 68mm, you can fine tune this distance for your deck and cartridge combination. The short laser-cut aluminium Tomahawk wand brought a significant improvement to all aspects of bass performance as well as overall clarity and definition. The wand is adjusted by sliding it fore and aft in the bearing holder; azimuth is simply set via a few turns of the mini-spikes which support the wand. Threaded counter-weights allow easy adjustment on tracking force.

The arm is very different to pivoted arms and I’m a total convert in case you’d not noticed! The need for an air pump and smoothing tank to smooth out the air pulses is of course a difference from a pivoted arm. The air pump is an aquarium unit, the air setting required is usually very low but even so the sound emitting from the air pump means that you need to find somewhere suitable to locate it. The two most common approaches are in a cupboard or in the next room. If placed in a cupboard you may need to place the pump in a box too, allowing for some air circulation. As my listening room is in our cellar (‘basement’ for our US brethren) I have been able to take the power cable and air tube into the next room, the 5 litre smoothing tank is beside the pump. This is perfect. As these items are meant to be hidden away Trans-Fi very purposely used low cost components which are ideal for the job. Some arm manufacturers would have engineered a special pump and tank adding £500 to £1,000 pounds to the price.

You soon get completely used to the different way of setting up and using this parallel tracking arm and you start to wonder why all arms aren’t made this way. It all seems so logical but then again that’s the product of thoughtful design and development. Considering that record masters are cut with linear tracking arms it clearly better to play them same way. Easy and accurate setup, no end –of-side distortion, alignment is spot-on through the entire record, not at just 2 points and you get a totally consistent sound. Traditional arm resonant frequency issues seem much reduced too. I’ve used various moving coil cartridges, 3 types of Londons (aka Decca – Super Gold, Jubilee, and Reference), there are many people using Denon DL 103s and SPUs, some add weight to the “saddle” which sits on the air manifold but in truth this does not seem to be necessary. When using the arm on other decks you will find the air decoupling inherent with this design very useful, it doesn’t mean there are no decoupling issues to think about regarding arm boards but they become much less critical. What is critical, well important anyway, is levelling the arm. The horizontal resistance of the arm is practically zero requiring the arm to be level – this is a good idea for any arm anyway. It’s a cinch to adjust for level via the 2 small thumbwheels on the side of the arm. Finally you have a couple of options for tonearm cable, copper litz or silver screened. I use the silver screened wire as my London cartridges are prone to hum and this wire kills any hum stone dead.

There’s loads of information at http://www.trans-fi.com/terminatortonearm.htm and other pages on the Trans-Fi site. This is the most neutral arm I’ve heard and it’s one that extracts maximum detail from the grooves without adding its own distortion. It really is a high-end bargain.

On-the-fly VTA adjustment:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/P1153956.jpg[/QUOTE]

I’ve been in the highly privileged position of being a beta-tester for the Salvation deck for over a year. A record deck may have relatively few parts but all these parts have to work in harmony and sympathy with each other, believe me when I say that Vic obsesses about getting details right.

Your Salvation will arrive in a flight case which will be picked up by courier once you have your deck up and running. As ever, Vic has thought through the challenges of shipping a fragile product, slate believe me is very easy to break in transit. Investing in flight cases for shipping is an excellent way to achieve maximal protection and at the same time avoiding expensive packaging which the owner will most likely have to dispose of. You can find a picture of the flight case at http://www.trans-fi.com/salvationmanual.htm.

Salvation sits on a slate plinth supported by 3 adjustable large spiked legs planted on aluminium feet. The bearing mounting is set into the slate plinth, the inverted bearing features a ceramic ball acting on a Lignum Vitae thrust plate. Lignum Vitae is a magical material, not only is it incredibly dense, it’s also self lubricating. Uses for Lignum Vitae include lawn bowls (as in balls), clock mechanics, ship propeller bearings and even police truncheons. Having tried a number of thrust pad materials I can say that I found Lignum Vitae to be the best, the difference in bass performance between various materials was surprisingly easy to discern. This brings me on to an aspect of the deck I noticed from the outset; a lack of what is often mistakenly called “vinyl roar” which is typically “bearing roar”. With the stylus in an unmodulated rotating groove the lack of roar is very welcome indeed.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/P1153945.jpg

There are two platter options for Salvation, there’s a 12 inch acrylic platter and a 14 inch stepped platter weighing in at 9kg. Both platters are rim-driven from a free standing motor pod. The motor pod is engaged via a lever with the driving pulley acting on a rubber traction band around the platter. The motor drive is very direct, quite unlike a belt drive deck and it’s more direct than Garrard idler drives too. The removal of lossy isolation of the motor requires an extremely well sorted drive system and an especially well developed power supply. Take it from me; it’s a cinch to hear VERY minor changes to the power supply.

Where the rubber hits the platter:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/P1153932.jpg

Vic’s goal is that sound quality is the most important aspect. If there are small consequential foibles the deck owner must get used to then so be it. The power supply has been an area where much time has been spent checking out many alternatives. An initially tempting power supply with motor that includes feedback speed control resulted in rock solid speed stability but it was let down by rumble transmitted to the platter and a strong hum from the controller. Close but no cigar.

A simpler controller with compensation for stylus drag was trialled, whilst this was impressive in resisting pressures even from record cleaning brushes, in the final analysis the sound was spoilt by a smearing of bass notes as the power supply made micro-adjustments to the voltage driving the motor. Simple lead-acid supplies were tested with regulators to govern voltage from the discharging battery. It was soon found that mains powered regulators outperformed the battery once the regulators were suitably configured. So what we have on the production Salvation is a linear power supply with multiple cascaded regulators with some extra tweaks that proved to be very important. Cascaded regulators are used to massively filter out mains borne noise helping to ensure the deck performs well at any time of day. Mains power can vary in quality hugely so rejection of noise by the power supply is very important with such a direct drive of the platter.

What is also important to realise is that the power supply purposely makes no attempt to control platter speed other than by supplying a constant voltage. There is no compensation for stylus drag or temperature. Speed does not vary or waiver over short timescales so piano notes for example do not wow. Speed can vary over longer timescales. It takes 10 or 15 minutes for speed to settle at the start of a listening session after which time the speed is usually exactly as it was from the previous day’s listening. Big variations in temperature can require tweaks to the speed setting. Typically I find need to adjust speed after a few days, not normally more frequently than this.

The lack of feedback control for the power supply is a very deliberate design decision which results in improved sound quality. If you are someone who must have a deck which is instantly up to 33.33rpm at switch on and never ever varies from this then I suggest you need a direct drive deck such as a Technics SP10 or 1210. If you value sound quality and can live with making occasional speed setting tweaks then consider Salvation. This is “straight-through” analogue with no digital control or feedback mechanisms.

Some final words on the two platter options; the 9kg platter permits the motor to spin a little faster so producing some useful extra torque. Speed is a maintained a little more consistently too as it takes a lot of force to change the speed of a 9kg platter. Any speed drift, even with the acrylic platter, is perfectly acceptable to me and I regard myself slightly on the obsessive side of sane. Vic has measured speed drift with the acrylic platter to be between 0.3% and 0.6%. The heavy aluminium platter betters 0.3%. The 0.3% figure is regarded in the industry as a standard to achieve. Direct Drives better 0.3% but many others do not. In terms of sound both platters sound great. For the aluminium platter a mat was required, we tried many mats, mats are very deck dependant so simply picking a mat you know to have worked well on another deck doesn’t mean a jot. In the end acrylic was found to be best, which is interesting and justifies why the acrylic platter also sounds great.

In attempting to describe how Salvation sounds I will contrast it to my Garrard 301 which is mounted in a twin tier plinth armed with an Origin Live Encounter mkIII. I have also used T3Pro on the 301. First up I have to say that the 301 is a fabulous deck, I love the looks and operation. I also love the drive and power of this idler drive deck. The 301 of course has many committed followers, I hope I won’t upset too many when I say it’s not the most neutral sounding deck. Its colourations are generally very benign but they exist even with a good plinth such as mine. I’ve managed to ameliorate most of the colouration by voicing my Hagerman Cornet 2 phono stage for use with the 301. What I’ve done is to choose a combination of tubes and capacitors which result in a slightly lean bass and emphasized treble, this compensates for the tonal foibles of the 301. My 301 used in this way is a very nice deck indeed, you have to go a long way to improve on the 301 sound. As a point of reference my 301, arm and plinth would cost £2,000 to £2,500 so price-wise it’s in the same league as the Salvation. A 301 needing restoration and using a high-end plinth maker you could stretch the cost for a complete 301 deck to over £3,000.

My Garrard 301 with Encounter mkIII arm:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/P1153968.jpg

OK, down to brass tacks. The very first early development version of Salvation I received amazingly clearly out-classed my beloved 301. Particular strengths noted at this early stage of development were incredible dynamics usually associated with idlers and a precision I associate with direct drives, pretty amazing. Vic has continually developed the deck over the last year to the point where it is now in production form. As you can imagine Salvation in production form now out-classes my 301 even more considerably. Worryingly so but don’t tell anyone, I want 301 values to increase, not decrease! Just as the T3Pro is one of the world’s great arms and a hi-fi enthusiast bargain, equally so is the Salvation record deck. It’s actually quite hard to characterise a deck that simply gets the sound so right. There is no apparent character from the deck, detail and clarity are superb. Soundstage and imaging are wide and deep, the separation between instruments is excellent. Bass is thunderous when it’s there in the recording. Dynamics are however the first thing that hits you, so to speak. My London (Decca) cartridges play their part here but the deck has to allow them to shine, and it does. Recording quality is very easy to hear, poor recordings are listenable but put on a great recording, often from the 50s or 60s, and you are rewarded big-time!

My Reference tracking on the14 inch 9kg Salvation stepped platter:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/P1153961.jpg

I’m not going to do the typical reviewer thing of reeling off how various records sound, this can be so system and room dependant that I don’t feel it’s particularly useful. A comparison to my Garrard 301 is probably more useful and for sure it’s the best comparison I have as the decks are side-by-side. You maybe aware that Garrards such as my 301 are highly regarded for their dynamics, and rightly so. Salvation takes on the 301, competes and leaves the 301 trailing its wake, especially so in terms of dynamics. If you listen to my 301 you’ll think, that is a great sound. Then you move onto Salvation, you’ll be shocked at just how much better in every aspect it is. Aside from bass power, extension, timing, mid-range clarity, treble clarity, soundstage, imaging, macro and micro dynamics, Salvation simply has a depth to its sound; it makes music a more meaningful performance.

How can I describe the Trans-Fi Salvation succinctly? It’s Alive!

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/1007230008ed2.jpg


http://www.trans-fi.com/turntable.htm

http://www.trans-fi.com/salvationmanual.htm

Review System Context

Cartridges
London Reference
London Jubilee
Ortofon Kontrapunkt B
ZTX R100H

Phono Stages
Ray Samuels F-117 Nighthawk
ECC83 with CCS / ECC88 with CCS, diy design
Hagerman Cornet 2
S&B TX-103 Step Ups
Hagerman Piccolo

Preamps
Tram mk2 DHT
S&B TX-102 Transformer Volume Control

Power Amps
LD91 (300B SE)

Speakers
Bastanis Mandala Atlas with Chrystal drivers
Bastanis Mandala 18 inch dipole basses with XTZ Sub Amp 1 DSP amplification

flapland
15-01-2011, 14:21
Excellent review Clive both providing background to how the Salvation got to this point and how it sounds. It does look tempting but not sure I could find that kind of money quickly and before he ends up becoming VAT registered. Do you know if the Salvation can take a standard tonearm as a I have the other champion of enthusiast/come builder arm, Jeffs Audiomods VTA arm and suspect it would make a good pairing.

Clive
15-01-2011, 14:42
Hi Paul, thanks, glad you liked the review. Re VAT, it's only my personal comment, I've no idea what the risk is that 20% will be added.

The deck hasn't been tested with any other arm. Vic enjoys special projects, if he's not too busy. Adapting the deck for the Rega fit & interesting Audiomods arm might be something he'd undertake.

John
15-01-2011, 15:04
I personally would stick with the Terminator pro the deck and arm really go well together. Bare in mind this would probarly not be any cheaper and perhaps take longer but speak to Vic he loves a challenge
Great review Clive The pictures really add to the story and you manage to get a cross just how important each item is getting the sound right.
Like Clive I have been lucky enough to see this turntable grow but more from a distance. Each time I visited Vic it would of had another modification each modification would add more improvement
This is a fanastic Turntable that offers crazy value for money

flapland
15-01-2011, 15:38
John and Clive thanks for the suggestion of talking to Vic. Re VAT Vic would have to be taking £70k on this and other items sold which I think is achievable but of course is a matter for Vic on how he runs his business.

I have a Lyra Argo i on its way this evening from a Wammer which I expect to drive me towards a better phono-stage so a Trans-Fi Salvation would be some months off if I was to go down that route.

John
15-01-2011, 15:46
Paul I hope to have the SALVATION in a few weeks so you more than welcome to hear it

flapland
15-01-2011, 15:56
John, I may well take you up on that, your a short ride away on the C11 if your location is correct. Your music tastes are even more catholic than mine... in a good way.

John
15-01-2011, 15:58
Yes I have pretty wide taste but bring your own albums always best to listen to music you know Yes C11 take you to Brentx then 232 or 182

Marco
15-01-2011, 16:23
Hi Clive,

Fabulous review, and very well written and professional as usual! :)

If I were in the market for a brand new T/T, the Salvation is the one I'd buy. It ticks all the boxes for me and I have a huge admiration for Vic as a designer.

Sometime soon we must have another sesh, and I'll being the Techie along, where I expect it to lose royally, but it'll be fun seeing how close it gets!

I'm also sure the experience will be educational for both of us :cool:

Marco.

John
15-01-2011, 16:29
Marco the dynamics on it is scary. I never heard such transiant attack I hope you can hear it soon

Marco
15-01-2011, 16:43
I don't doubt it, mate.... I'm sure Clive and I can sort something out soon :)

Marco.

Clive
15-01-2011, 17:00
Hi Clive,

Fabulous review, and very well written and professional as usual! :)

If I were in the market for a brand new T/T, the Salvation is the one I'd buy. It ticks all the boxes for me and I have a huge admiration for Vic as a designer.

Sometime soon we must have another sesh, and I'll being the Techie along, where I expect it to lose royally, but it'll be fun seeing how close it gets!

I'm also sure the experience will be educational for both of us :cool:

Marco.
Hi Marco, thanks for moving the review to the correct room! Something I should have said in review is that along with Salvation's dynamics what struck me when I first heard the deck is that it combines elements of the sound of both idler and drive drive. I believe this is because the drive system is so very direct. I can't say whether it's "better" than your hugely tweaked Techie, personal preference would no doubt be a significant factor. So yes, we'll have to do the comparison.

Welder
15-01-2011, 23:06
If anything could make me consider returning to Vinyl this deck might. Linear tracking, many have tried and many have failed :doh:
I really like the look of this deck. It appeals to the engineer in me.
If I’ve understood this right the basic deck will be around £3000 and while that’s still a lot of money for a record player it does seem from what I’ve read that the designer has concentrated on the engineering and left the eye candy and hype off the price and off the site.
I doubt if I’ll ever hear one and doubt even less that I’ll ever buy one but I do wish this guy success in this venture. It’s great to see some precision engineering applied to music replay rather than the usual, it has this badge and review on it so if you don’t think its good your deaf.
Nice review btw Clive ;)

Techno Commander
15-01-2011, 23:20
Excellent review thanks. That is a seriously large amount of turntable for the money.

I like real engineering. :)

Clive
15-01-2011, 23:21
Hi John,

The £1,800 / £2,200 approx price includes the T3Pro linear tracking arm. I didn't say much about the arm as I've reviewed it previously for enjoythemusic though that was an earlier version, there have been many revisions since. The arm is very well sorted indeed. You've got me thinking that I ought to add some extra info on the arm in the review.

Welder
16-01-2011, 00:12
Yeah, do a bit on the arm Clive please :)
It might be of interest given the comparatively low price of the deck and arm combo to see how it gets on with a couple of high output MM as well as some of the more heavyweight MC’s.
It doesn’t strike me as a deck you’ll be arm swapping on so the ability of the arm to take a wide range of cartridges becomes rather important ;)

John
16-01-2011, 06:30
I can share a bit about the arm (Clive I hope you do not mind) I had the first model of the Terminator, since then its had a few modifications which has increased its deteail retrival and bass , none of these were bad.
I met Vic and few years back, he bought a slate plinth lenco of me. I latter went to visit him to hear what he did with the lenco it was my first experience of open baffles and linear tracking arms. Vic suggested that I try the Terminator on my VPI HW19 mark 4 which had a silver wired SME IV In every area the Terminator out performed the SME and I do mean every area of performance the difference was huge.
I was lead to believe that most linear trackers do not do good bass, the bass I heard had gained in depth and width, it had so much more weight.
I think its best for Clive to talk through the modifications to the arm as he had a lot more hands on experience of this than me.
I think people have really got what this turntable is about, its about good engineering and passion

Marco
16-01-2011, 11:03
Hi Clive,


Hi Marco, thanks for moving the review to the correct room!


No worries, dude - it was an easy mistake to make :)


Something I should have said in review is that along with Salvation's dynamics what struck me when I first heard the deck is that it combines elements of the sound of both idler and drive drive. I believe this is because the drive system is so very direct.


Yup, and it's *precisely* that which makes the Salvation so appealing to me, together with its sheer engineering quality, and 'cost no object' build.

Of course the only reason that Vic can charge what he does for his products is because he's a 'one man band' with little overheads, which is precisely why they offer such high SPPV, and therefore tick all the right boxes to be championed on AoS!

I'm quite sure when I hear the Salvation I'll get every bit as excited about it as I have done with the modified Techie ;)

I would love to see more people use the Salvation almost as the 'de-facto enthusiast’s choice' for anyone in the market for a top-notch brand new T/T, free from the bollocks of commercial 'badge hi-fi'. Folk should be buying them instead of SMEs, Michells, and such like!

Has Vic had any of his products reviewed in one of the hi-fi mags? If not, I may be able to help in that respect.


I can't say whether it's "better" than your hugely tweaked Techie, personal preference would no doubt be a significant factor. So yes, we'll have to do the comparison.

I'm sure it'll be a interesting and fun exercise for both of us, but in all seriousness I expect the Salvation to be notably superior overall. The arm and cartridge combination you use I'm sure will play a significant part in that.

As enjoyable as the Jelco and SPU undoubtedly are, I'd probably have to raise the game in that area of my deck to get near to levelling the playing field. There's also the fact that the Salvation was built from the ground up as a 'no holds barred' expression of Vic's design and engineering prowess.

A modified Techie is superb, but it will always remain a mass-produced piece of equipment, and as such have fundamental built-in limitations. All the modifications do, as effective as they are, is realise its maximum potential - and I believe the Salvation has considerably more potential for reasons given.

Yes I love my modded Techie, but I'm also a realist! We'll sort something out after the show at Scalford Hall in March - I'm sure that quite a few folks would be interested in the outcome.... :cool:

Marco.

John
16-01-2011, 11:25
Vic has had his arms reviewed in Hifi World but hope at some point the deck gets a review in one of the big mags

Clive
16-01-2011, 13:26
I've written some addition words on the T3Pro which comes with the Salvation deck. As I'm over the 24 hours editing limit I can't edit the original posting (unless Marco can somehow allow me to edit it).

T3Pro arm with Tomahawk wand and London Reference cartridge:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/1007230011ed.jpg

The Trans-Fi Salvation is a rim-drive record deck which includes the astoundingly excellent T3Pro air-bearing arm. The arm is available separately at £770 in the UK including air pump and smoothing tank, it’s £740 for non-UK purchasers who are better sourcing the generic pump and tank locally. The arm offers a super- clean, transparent and consistent sound. Not only does this parallel tracking arm banish distortion which pivoted arms have inherent in their nature in all but 2 positions across the record, but also the T3Pro is far easier to set up accurately vs pivoted arms. You have to suspend your experience of setting up pivoted arms and revel in the simplicity of set up with the T3Pro. The beauty of setting up this arm is that you set it up in sequence. I hate pivoted arm setups where you move the cartridge fore and aft and often accidentally twist it in the headshell so you end up changing the alignment in two planes at once. None of this palaver exists with the T3Pro, simple sequential setup which is easy to do very accurately.

The T3Pro is the culmination of significant evolution, the original arm being based on Poul Ladegaard’s ideas. Since then the arm has been developed to sport an inverted air-bearing, VTA adjustment on-the-fly, simple levelling adjustability via 2 thumbwheels and it has the latest Tomahawk wand. The inverted air-bearing was a big step forward as was the shortening of the wand. The arm used to be positioned behind the platter, it is now positioned over the platter with the pivot to stylus tip distance being around 68mm, you can fine tune this distance for your deck and cartridge combination. The short laser-cut aluminium Tomahawk wand brought a significant improvement to all aspects of bass performance as well as overall clarity and definition. The wand is adjusted by sliding it fore and aft in the bearing holder; azimuth is simply set via a few turns of the mini-spikes which support the wand. Threaded counter-weights allow easy adjustment on tracking force.

The arm is very different to pivoted arms and I’m a total convert in case you’d not noticed! The need for an air pump and smoothing tank to smooth out the air pulses is of course a difference from a pivoted arm. The air pump is an aquarium unit, the air setting required is usually very low but even so the sound emitting from the air pump means that you need to find somewhere suitable to locate it. The two most common approaches are in a cupboard or in the next room. If placed in a cupboard you may need to place the pump in a box too, allowing for some air circulation. As my listening room is in our cellar (‘basement’ for our US brethren) I have been able to take the power cable and air tube into the next room, the 5 litre smoothing tank is beside the pump. This is perfect. As these items are meant to be hidden away Trans-Fi very purposely used low cost components which are ideal for the job. Some arm manufacturers would have engineered a special pump and tank adding £500 to £1,000 pounds to the price.

You soon get completely used to the different way of setting up and using this parallel tracking arm and you start to wonder why all arms aren’t made this way. It all seems so logical but then again that’s the product of thoughtful design and development. Considering that record masters are cut with linear tracking arms it clearly better to play them same way. Easy and accurate setup, no end –of-side distortion, alignment is spot-on through the entire record, not at just 2 points and you get a totally consistent sound. Traditional arm resonant frequency issues seem much reduced too. I’ve used various moving coil cartridges, 3 types of Londons (aka Decca – Super Gold, Jubilee, and Reference), there are many people using Denon DL 103s and SPUs, some add weight to the “saddle” which sits on the air manifold but in truth this does not seem to be necessary. When using the arm on other decks you will find the air decoupling inherent with this design very useful, it doesn’t mean there are no decoupling issues to think about regarding arm boards but they become much less critical. What is critical, well important anyway, is levelling the arm. The horizontal resistance of the arm is practically zero requiring the arm to be level – this is a good idea for any arm anyway. It’s a cinch to adjust for level via the 2 small thumbwheels on the side of the arm. Finally you have a couple of options for tonearm cable, copper litz or silver screened. I use the silver screened wire as my London cartridges are prone to hum and this wire kills any hum stone dead.

There’s loads of information at http://www.trans-fi.com/terminatortonearm.htm and other pages on the Trans-Fi site. This is the most neutral arm I’ve heard and it’s one that extracts maximum detail from the grooves without adding its own distortion. It really is a high-end bargain.

On-the-fly VTA adjustment:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/cmeakins/P1153956.jpg

Spectral Morn
16-01-2011, 16:04
Edit done Clive.

Additional material now in article.


Regards D S D L

Clive
16-01-2011, 16:21
Edit done Clive.

Additional material now in article.


Regards D S D L
Wunderbar, many thanks Neil!

Spectral Morn
16-01-2011, 16:42
Wunderbar, many thanks Neil!

no problem :)


Regards D S D L

Tea24
17-01-2011, 10:49
A very interesting review and a very interesting turntable and arm. You say that with the heavy platter the spped stability "betters 0.3%". Now I wonder by how much? 0.3% is Broadcast Standard and with my belt drive Nottingham Analogue controlled by a Pro-ject Speed Box I get 0.15%. (Measured with my KAB spped strobe, which I assume is accurate) Does the Salvation Deck better that?

Clive
17-01-2011, 11:50
A very interesting review and a very interesting turntable and arm. You say that with the heavy platter the spped stability "betters 0.3%". Now I wonder by how much? 0.3% is Broadcast Standard and with my belt drive Nottingham Analogue controlled by a Pro-ject Speed Box I get 0.15%. (Measured with my KAB spped strobe, which I assume is accurate) Does the Salvation Deck better that?
Hi Julian,

Given that the philosophy behind the power supply is to not hold the motor in a vice-like grip if you worry about speed drift needing to be super tight then it maybe better for you to use a deck with some form of feedback mechanism. I've heard the effect of doing this with the very direct rim-drive system of Salvation, there's no question that I prefer no feedback. Given the lack of feedback control who knows you might see 0.1% on occasion - I really can't say - but there can be no guarantees. Better than 0.3% seems typical. As it happens I can't aurally detect any speed drift with the acrylic platter with it's better than 0.6% accuracy. I think any speed drift occurs over a longish period and is benign. Can you detect the difference between 0.3% and 0.6%? Probably some people can but most can't.

Tea24
17-01-2011, 13:24
I am sure I couldn't tell the difference, but if that is the case why is it important? I just (psychologically?) like the fact that mine is so tight. Adding the Speed box & its getting the speed so tight as well as claeaning up the mains signal have significantly improved the sound IMHO. By the way I am a bit lost as to what a deck with feedback mechanism is - can you explain?

What I like about the Notts Analogue is that it is so simple & the Salvation seems to be so too.

Reid Malenfant
17-01-2011, 13:36
By the way I am a bit lost as to what a deck with feedback mechanism is - can you explain?
Put as simply as possible you'd have a circuit that monitors the rotational speed of the platter, if it happens to slow slightly the circuit would increase voltage to the motor & thus correct the rotational speed as it'd spin faster...

If it span too fast then it'd cut voltage to the motor slightly thus slowing it down & keeping the speed as constant as possible.

If you like it'd be similar to how quartz lock direct drive TTs work but without the direct drive.

Marco
17-01-2011, 14:04
Hi Clive,


As it happens I can't aurally detect any speed drift with the acrylic platter with it's better than 0.6% accuracy. I think any speed drift occurs over a longish period and is benign. Can you detect the difference between 0.3% and 0.6%? Probably some people can but most can't.

This is perhaps an area for us to listen for when we compare T/Ts.

One thing the Techie is utterly superb at is maintaining totally accurate speed stability, and my ears are quite sensitive to any drift which results in adversely affecting the accuracy of the pitch (and timing) of notes :)

It's one of the reasons why I now find it difficult listening to belt-drive T/Ts, out with of the high-mass string-drive variety!

Do you have any solo piano recordings? Those are great for sussing out that sort of thing. If not, I can bring some with me :cool:

Marco.

Tea24
17-01-2011, 15:23
By the way Clive, do you happen to know the footprint of the deck with arm fitted? Just for interest's sake. Couldn't find this info on the website.

Clive
17-01-2011, 15:52
Hi Marco,

'scuse the short reply, I'm working from my phone.....the sound is absolutely fine with piano. Any speed drift takes place over a much longer period than a series of notes. The 9kg platter in particular is very, very steady. Any drifting is I believe due to temp changes on the bearing so we're talking drift over long, not short timescales.

Hi Julian,

I'll get the dimensions for you though I'm not home currently, I'll need to get the TT measured.

Clive
17-01-2011, 16:07
Footprint is 21 x 14 inches, sorry I wasn't given metric.

Marco
17-01-2011, 16:23
Hi Clive,


'scuse the short reply, I'm working from my phone.....the sound is absolutely fine with piano. Any speed drift takes place over a much longer period than a series of notes. The 9kg platter in particular is very, very steady. Any drifting is I believe due to temp changes on the bearing so we're talking drift over long, not short timescales.


No worries - gotcha! :)

9kg? I wonder if that's heavier than my MN platter....

Marco.

John
17-01-2011, 17:01
Hi Clive,



No worries - gotcha! :)

9kg? I wonder if that's heavier than my MN platter....

Marco.
I am sure Mike would know but I suspect the weight pretty similar with maybe the Salvation due to its design edging it in weight Remember its a liped Platter 14" and 12 "so that the motor has more torque and better speed stabilty.
The speed fluction that Clive talking about is over a period of time and is not micro, in this realm its probarly more stable with less smear but of course the hearing will be the proof. Judging by the sound of the your mod 1210 Marco I think you will really like it.
I had Vic playing the Koln Concert and for me very realistic Remember a lot of the testing has been done on 1950 jazz records and believe me the Salvation lets you into every slight alteration you make. I think getting the power supply right has been the biggest issue

Welder
17-01-2011, 17:15
Are you considering buying one Marco?


(maybe I might have to risk a trip to the darkest corner of North Wales and the fabled cupboard not to mention Marco’s revenge for all the piss taking I’ve done here :eek:)

John
17-01-2011, 17:29
I doubt it John theres not much wrong with Marco 1210 its bloody good

Tea24
17-01-2011, 17:55
Thanks for that Clive! I am sorely tempted but SWMBO might get a bit shirty!

Marco
17-01-2011, 18:15
Hi John,


Are you considering buying one Marco?


(maybe I might have to risk a trip to the darkest corner of North Wales and the fabled cupboard not to mention Marco’s revenge for all the piss taking I’ve done here :eek:)

Lol! You're more than welcome to visit anytime, but no, I'm very happy with my Techie :)

However, were I starting from scratch and looking for a new T/T, the Salvation would be on the top of my list! Where else would you get an £8k T/T (its true value in the hi-end market, in terms of build and sound quality) for £2.5k? ;)

Marco.

Tea24
17-01-2011, 18:17
Sorry, Clive, yet another question! Reading the set up info on the site it seems to me that it should be relatively easy to have 2 arm wands fully set up & swop over? Say have a dedicated true mono cartridge on one (something I am rather keen on at the moment, but which my present table ( Notts Analogue entry level) will not let me do as I cannot mount 2 arms) - what say you?

John
17-01-2011, 18:49
Hi Julian
Yes you spot on just a simple case of removing the wand and wires
One session i had with Vic was going through and hearing the differences of various Decca London Cartridges, it was a very simple process It gave me a real good sense of the Decca sound and the improvements made with each upgrade

Macca
17-01-2011, 19:23
However, were I starting from scratch and looking for a new T/T, the Salvation would be on the top of my list! Where else would you get an £8k T/T (its true value in the hi-end market) for £2.5k? ;)

Marco.

Exactly I am trying to convince myself I don't want one (although i would have issues with the air pump placement). Compared to other current hi-end TTs the price is scarily reasonable (and honest, I suspect).

John
17-01-2011, 20:04
I think on the new arm pump noise is minimal. I used to turn mine on only when I was listening to music and never had a issue with it

Macca
17-01-2011, 20:22
Could you get away with a relatively cheap cart? Nag MP150 or something - I notice it's all Londons/Decca in the photos.

Clive
17-01-2011, 20:33
The arm and deck are not all fussy about cartridges. Vic used a Dl304 for a while IRC. Check the www.enjoythemusic.com review on the earlier version of the arm and the London cartridges compared to a KB and ZTX on the Terminator.

Pump noise isn't bad, you just need a little ingenuity to mask it, but then the 12V transfomer for my lights bugs me so I'm picky about noise.

John
17-01-2011, 20:34
I heard the 103 with a decent heasshell and it outperformed my ZYX R 100 H Worth speaking to Vic he has tried loads of carts on it and will give you his honest view

MartinT
17-01-2011, 20:37
I'm curious - can the Salvation be fitted with a standard arm?

John
17-01-2011, 20:44
I would imagine so Vic loves a challenge but doubt it have much effect on price
Must admit be interesting to hear the Dynovector on it.

MartinT
17-01-2011, 21:00
Must admit be interesting to hear the Dynovector on it.

LOL, was a thought for the future :)

Jon
21-01-2011, 08:24
I will be buying the tonearm (terminator) shortly...

It has been on my lust list for some time!

If you do buy, then consider fitting 2 surge tanks - I believe it improves the quietness...

By the way the Hi-Fi World review of the terminator featured a Denon 103R with Midas body and Expert Stylus Ruby Cantilever and Paratrace stylus. I understand the Midas is available on Audiogon - I know David (the seller) and bought direct. This combination is extraordinary - and ridiculously cheap!

John
21-01-2011, 20:17
Let us know how you get on

duo(2)
29-01-2011, 09:37
Hello,

I have just ordered a Terminator T3pro arm, to my Technics SP10MKII/Obsidian plinth
should have it in 2-3 weeks...
it will replace an Technics EPA 100 arm,
I have had other parallel trackers before, the ET2 and a Goldmund
they where a bit lean in the bass,
but from what i have read about the Terminator, this should not be an issue

Cant wait...!

MartinT
29-01-2011, 10:26
Nice one, Nicolaj. Will you review it for us once you receive it? With plenty of photos, of course.

John
29-01-2011, 12:34
The Terminator is not lean in the bass the wand length and design has really helped things in this area

Clive
29-01-2011, 12:59
You'll love the arm Nikolaj. Any set up questions etc, just ask.

duo(2)
29-01-2011, 14:11
Thanks,

i really look forward to get it on my TT, and hear what it can
but have to be patience 2-3 weeks before it arrives
and no music until then, my old arm is on its way to germany:(

Have a great weekend

Clive
07-02-2011, 13:45
Stop Press!

In my recent review of the Trans-Fi Salvation record deck I said; “Vic will not stand still, instead choosing to constantly refine his designs, though the T3Pro arm and Salvation record deck have probably reached the point where further evolutions will now be relatively rare. Then again he always has the ability to surprise me with his inventiveness so keep tabs on what he’s doing!”.

Well, he’s done it again.

Remember that the philosophy of the deck is to keep the design simple, ie no complex feedback mechanisms to control the speed etc. Control via feedback can measure well but doesn’t always sound so great. Good engineering practices and intelligent thought are what’s behind this deck. The drive system is very direct and as such any noise from the motor is transmitted directly to the stylus. Salvation has now been updated to have significantly greater torque acting on the platter with no subsequent noise issues. Anyone who’s heard a Garrard knows the effect that torque can have for sound quality.

Salvation’s 9kg platter pre-tweak took around 15 secs to go from 0 to 33.33rpm. I’ve measured startup time post-tweak. 0 to 33.33 in 4.5 seconds! That’s a 9kg platter….like I said, a lot more torque. The platter is also far less affected by external forces such as stylus drag and even record cleaning.

On first hearing the sonic upgrade was immediately obvious. The first word that came to mind was “tight” in that there was incredible control at play here. Overall clarity has improved, sounds start and stop with an uncanny speed and ease. The more obvious gaps between notes add to musical impact. Dynamics are incredible, my London / Decca cartridge is in its element. Voices and instruments sound so realistic, it’s scary. Hi-hats in particular are the clearest and most natural I have EVER heard through a hi-fi system. Piano sounds amazing, where a tendency for slightly piercing piano sounds exists from other sources Salvation deals with this, putting out pure and natural sounds. Bass is sublime, oh I could go on but I’d better stop now. I am impressed, very impressed.

John
07-02-2011, 14:48
I Visited Vic yesterday and just heard the upgrades I think scary is the right word those dynamics have pin point precision and the scale........ all I can say is bloody hell!!! and speed stabilty issue sorted no worries about stlyus drag

Tea24
09-02-2011, 14:43
Tell me, just out of interest, when you start this turntable do you;
a) Start the motor then approach the motor to the platter, or
b)Approach the motor to the platter & then start the motor.

When I am in funds(!), perhaps when we have moved house & assuming I have the room I am getting one of these - definate - I LIKE it:):ner:

Clive
09-02-2011, 15:05
Tell me, just out of interest, when you start this turntable do you;
a) Start the motor then approach the motor to the platter, or
b)Approach the motor to the platter & then start the motor.

When I am in funds(!), perhaps when we have moved house & assuming I have the room I am getting one of these - definate - I LIKE it:):ner:
Up until this last development the procedure was to start the motor when it is disengaged from the platter then operate the lever to engage the pulley with the platter. Rather like the ancient Solex mopeds I remember from my youth in France, but that's showing my age rather too much.

The above procedure was to prevent flat spots on the pulley. The new pulley can still be operated in the same way and is possibly best worked that way though it will also be viable to engage the pulley and then turn on the power. The main reason for sticking with the original procedure would be to avoid mistakenly leaving a stationary pulley resting against the rubber traction area overnight and putting a dimple in it.

Tea24
09-02-2011, 16:41
Don't!:doh: I too remember the Solex, which has now been resurrected as an electric version.

spiritofmusic
24-02-2011, 00:44
Does anyone in/near London have this turntable in their system? And could I come up to listen to it? Would be most grateful for the chance!

John
24-02-2011, 05:42
Can you introduce yourself in the welcome section
I hope to have in my system this weekend

spiritofmusic
24-02-2011, 10:41
Hi John, just posted intro and system details in 'Welcome' section. Would be most grateful of the chance of a visit, thanks.At this point the only upgrade I'm considering is idler/rim drive/DD, and the Salvation seems to tick all the boxes. There are an awful number of possible upgrades to Lenco L75's/Garrard 301's/401's/SP10's, esp. from the USA eg Oswald Mills Audio/Jean Nantais etc in the $5000-$10000 range which seem to hit the mark more than uber expensive belt drives. Am I to take it that the Salvation is up there with these?

John
24-02-2011, 12:22
The only TT I not heard is the Oswald Mills TT (Ultra expensive) and Jean Nantais Lenco but I know the Lenco and heard a good few slate plinths machines The Slavation eaisly out performs all the rest including the slate 401 and Lenco you mentioned Clive has a 301 and whilst he really likes the 301 its not in the same league Vic used to play a lot with 401 and and Lencos
I email as soon as I get it up and running
The best way to describe the Salvation is the slam and scale of the 401 with the precision of a 1210 fully modified, its like the best of both worlds as completly solved the speed issues with the higher torque and completly is completly analogue controlled yet speed stable

ChrisKemp
24-02-2015, 01:36
The Salvation w/ T3Pro is the only turntable I would upgrade to from my modified 1210M5G:eyebrows: It looks great and with the latest motor upgrade; saying it´s the best of Garrard 301 and a modified 1210...well, that just makes it very very interesting for me. And the price is also at a point that can fit my future budget. So Clive and Marco, did you ever compare the two decks?

I can imagine that the London Reference is a fantastic cartridge, because my London Decca Super Gold w/ DeccaPod (from Divine Audio) is just run in. The sound is exactly how I want it to be. With the Salvation I could just put my Super Gold on the T3, because I don´t know of any other cartridge I would like than the London Decca:cool:

Also I kind of made my own version of a Reso-mat today with my Oyaide MJ-12 and the sound is even better than before. No more record weights for my set up, no :stalks:

http://www.hifisentralen.no/forumet/attachments/vinylavdelingen/307353d1424736624-technics-sl-1210-fullsizerender.jpg

WOStantonCS100
24-02-2015, 02:14
The Salvation w/ T3Pro is the only turntable I would upgrade to from my modified 1210M5G:eyebrows: It looks great and with the latest motor upgrade; saying it´s the best of Garrard 301 and a modified 1210...well, that just makes it very very interesting for me. And the price is also at a point that can fit my future budget. So Clive and Marco, did you ever compare the two decks?

I can imagine that the London Reference is a fantastic cartridge, because my London Decca Super Gold w/ DeccaPod (from Divine Audio) is just run in. The sound is exactly how I want it to be. With the Salvation I could just put my Super Gold on the T3, because I don´t know of any other cartridge I would like than the London Decca:cool:

Also I kind of made my own version of a Reso-mat today with my Oyaide MJ-12 and the sound is even better than before. No more record weights for my set up, no :stalks:

http://www.hifisentralen.no/forumet/attachments/vinylavdelingen/307353d1424736624-technics-sl-1210-fullsizerender.jpg

Would you mind expanding on your DIY "Reso-mat" upgrade? What are you using for the standoffs? How is the sound better? Curious minds want to know. :)

ChrisKemp
24-02-2015, 08:29
I used small plastic/ rubber things that came with Ikea furniture:) It has glue on one side and is suppose to dampen noise from closing drawers. The midrange is clearer and smoother. It's like the voice of Eva Cassidy has greater depth and is free of distortion I never realised was there in the first place. Bass is just as tight but it is deeper when called for. My diy is probably not as good as Transfi Reso, but I had to try. Besides, the Oyaide MJ-12 is a great platter with the 1 mm Oyaide BR-one rubbermat underneath. The sound is def better now than it used to with a record weight:)

ChrisKemp
24-02-2015, 10:19
I wonder how a Terminator T3Pro would sound on a fully modified Technics 1210 with a Mike New ETP Platter. Wonder how it would hold up against the Salvation tt?? Should I save up for a ETP Platter and T3Pro, or sell my dear 1210M5G and purchase the Transfi Salvation:scratch: ?

shane
24-02-2015, 10:39
You can get those from B&Q as well. They're adhesive-backed clear silicone buttons designed for cupboard doors to close against quietely. IIRC they're about £5 for a pack of 100. I've got some knocking around somewhere. I think I'll go and find them....

YNWaN
24-02-2015, 19:56
I use a minimum contact mat where the record sits on small contact points. However, my experiments have suggested that non compliant materials are best. In addition, I do use a type of record clamp.

MCRU
24-02-2015, 20:26
You can get those from B&Q as well. They're adhesive-backed clear silicone buttons designed for cupboard doors to close against quietely. IIRC they're about £5 for a pack of 100. I've got some knocking around


That's far too expensive for folks on here.

CageyH
24-02-2015, 20:40
That's far too expensive for folks on here.

:zzz: