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
Yes, but the OP inserts a platter mat between the LP and the platter.  Platter mats make a big difference, like adding salt and pepper to your food, regardless of the nature of the platter.  Moreover, nearly all turntables have platters made of some sort of metal, yet the "sound" of the mat can easily be heard.  And while I tend to agree with the idea that you want good coupling of energy into the mat, there is a school of thought that favors isolating the LP in space (e.g., the Resomat and the old Transcriptors platter), which has its fans as well. What a hobby!  Or, what? A hobby?

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.

Nandric, Try getting loaded on slivovitz instead of acrylic. Acrylic is bad for the liver.
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.

Dear Lew, Curiously but true the expression ''some'' is used as

referring expression. But in the statement: ''some one has stolen my

car'' the problem of reference is obvious. If some one knew who

those ''some'' who have stolen cars are he would become

multi millionaire  in one year time.

BTW acrylic platter is recommended because of the assumption that

LP material is the ''same'' as acrylic. I myself am loaded with acrylic

while 100% innocent. My whole ASR German artillery with Basis

Exclusive, Emitter II exclusive + Kuzma Stabi Refrence are also

loaded with acrylic. Cleaning this stuff is a nightmare but the big

 reword is the illusion that this stuff sounds good.

Same tonearm? Same cartridge? Same downstream amplification? Same speakers? Same LPs? Same etc?

Also, you say you used "various platter mats".  In my experience, the platter mat makes a more dramatic difference in sonics than does the material of which the platter is made.  This does not surprise me, since the LP is in contact with the mat, not the platter.