2. analog
  3. 133024-3034

aluminum platter vs Acrylic not what I thought

I recently got to hear a VPI scout with an aluminum platter and various platter mats.  I am having a hard time trying to understand where the fascination with aluminum is coming from.  The acrylic sounds far better.  Its not even close to my ears.  Is it that some people just never heard the scout with the acrylic platter?  I would strongly encourage anyone who is looking for a used scout with an acrylic platter to really take a good look at it.  It sounds much more like real music and for what these used scouts are going for, they are an incredible value.  Maybe its just system/cartridge synergy.  I actually thing the scout with the acrylic platter sounds just as good if not better and quieter than the classic with the aluminum platter.  The scout sounds more like an older Aries than the Classic does.  The advantage of the classic is the longer arm but I mean for many people, I am not sure you can do much better table than the scout with the acrylic platter for anywhere near to what they go for used and I would say they you could look at tables costing much more and still not get the music satisfaction in many ways that the scout accomplishes.  They just seem to portray the musical experience in a way that sounds right.  Aries and scoutmasters with acrylic have to sound killer.  The only platter that is as good that VPI made are there lead and hybrid metal aluminum/acrylic platter tables.  I think VPI is going in the wrong direction with aluminum.  To me the disadvantages far outweigh the benefits.  Others may disagree but if you find scout w/acrylic for a good deal, I would be all over it.  Sometimes you just don't know what ya have so I will probably hang on to mine for a while.
tzh21y
tzh21y OP
1,654 posts
 
Yogiboy, I would agree, lead was very good indeed.  Dead as hell in a good way.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,766 posts
 
I've been having great success with a 10" vinyl record as a platter mat on my 401. It's such a quick, cheap test. You might be surprised.

thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
Atmasphere said:
A correct platter pad will have the same hardness as vinyl so that any vibration from the LP can be absorbed.

Aluminum and any metal for that matter is far too hard.

Acrylic is too, but obviously less so than metal. IME, the harder the material, the more issues with high frequencies.

To expand on Ralph’s comments, you’re trying to absorb and transmit spurious vibrations away from the stylus tracking the groove so they don’t reflect back into the cantilever/motor assembly of the cartridge. The key to this lies in matching the speed of sound of the two materials (platter surface and record).

Our plain-Jane, PVC platter did this extremely well (the “V” in PVC stands for vinyl), but the market was fascinated with flame polished acrylic. The PVC was as much of a technical success as it was a commercial flop. And so it goes …

Now, you can work with aluminum but it gets tricky. In an after-market context, you can try playing with mats, but it will be a long, bumpy road (or … you might get lucky on the first try).

The key in working with materials that don't interface well with records (from a vibration transmission perspective) is to do this in stages - starting with an ideal platter surface, and working through intermediate material transitions,. 

This is how we approached our composite (Gavia and Stelvio) platters.

Lew said:
For what it’s worth, I have not liked acrylic mats or platters in the past, but probably that’s just me. The only platter per se that meets your criterion pretty well, Ralph, is one of the several options offered by Thom Mackris on his Galibier turntables. It may be made of Delrin, but I cannot recall.

Top to bottom, the platters are carbon fiber, PVC (for the Gavia Platter) / Brass (Stelvio Platter - 14 Lbs. worth of it), and aluminum, along with damping chambers in the aluminum.

… Thom @ Galibier Design
engineears
39 posts
 
So, if I’m looking for a lead-acrylic VPI table with a 12-inch transcription arm, what models am I searching for?

Are there others that represent great performance at a similar price point? I do like the idea of delrin or olefin as a platter material, especially with a lead or similar outer ring for a flywheel effect.
------

If I could have any turntable right now, it would be a Townshend Rock 7 with the white (delrin?) platter and the wild damping trough for the cartridge/arm. I love the idea of an arm that resists side to side waggle and therefore allows the cantilever to capture the full swing of bass movements. Granted, you would absolutely have to redrill any off-center albums or the wow/flutter would be off the charts. Come to think of it, that trough would be child's play to 3D print. hmm...
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
engineears---No need to redrill off-center LP holes for the Townshend trough; the side-to-side movement of the arm/cartridge is at a low enough frequency to be unaffected by the damping fluid in the trough. The fluid’s viscosity was chosen to allow for slow (low frequency) movement, but prevent rapid (higher frequency). The same is true of the goo in the bearing well of the Well Tempered Arm. The Townshend trough, by the way, was offered separately by Max in the 1990’s, for installation of tables other than his. I have one I’m going to mount on a VPI.
More to discover