Should I buy a VPI SCOUTMASTER. I OWN 25 RECORDS.

Dear @jeffvegas :  I'm a music lover and an audiophile and own 6K+ LPs.

From some latest years digital alternative already outperforms the best and high prices analog alternative, no matters what analog ( LP. ) is no challenge for digital that every " day " is growing up with better digital technology when analog stop to develops up-grades because it's from years at its limits.

Do it you a favor and invest those 4K in the best DAC you can find out and you will never turn your face back to analog. Analog is only for the ones that as me own thousands of LPs but certainly not for you. Enjoy the MUSIC with a better DAC. Period.

Btw, if it's true that an unipivot tonearm can has lower bearing friction it's true that to carry the cartridge ride in the grooves modulations is the worst kind of tonearm bearing due to unstability. Cartridges needs dead stability in the tonearm bearing with low friction and all gimball type of tonearms due that job way better that any unipivot and does not matters the price of that unipivot.

As I said do it your self a favor and invest in today and future MUSIC enjoyment through the digital alternative.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Dear jeffvegas,

The decision to where to invest/spend your $$$ is a very personal one - its what's makes you happy - how do you define you destination or your journey.

Digital music has matured to a music presentation all its own.  There is little value in investing in a CD player - the best CD lasers like the swing-arm Phillips CDM4/Pro with German glass optics and 50,000-hr life are history.  Better to burn CDs to FLAC or WAV and use a fanless laptop as a music player with free music player software such as MediaMonkey.

The current future (and as digital it is always subject to change), of digital music is streaming with the current business model of subscription service - how many streaming services will survive is debatable since I believe that many are not yet profitable, but something will survive.  But, consider that if a Hi-Rez music file can be transmitted from a remote physical storage facility (i.e. server center) through 100’s if not 1,000’s of miles of combined fiberoptic and copper cable, through connectors, repeaters, amplifiers; maybe a fiberoptic to copper converter at your home to a router all using 1,000’s if not 10,000’s of circuits, processing by 10,000’s if not 100,000’s of lines of computer operating/BIOS/firmware code, and emerge at your home server bit-perfect be it a lap top or dedicated server, the whole argument of home hardware evaporates, leaving nothing more than the DAC. With the Benchmark DCA-3 (as an example - $1700 for DAC only) essentially being engineering perfection (with I believe a 5-yr warranty) its is plug and play; one and done.  You cannot argue the life-cycle cost of digital music streaming.

Vinyl is anything but plug and play; one and done; it is not about convenience.  It is journey with every step yield personal satisfaction and some frustration, all to get that uniquely analog music experience and presentation that no doubt there is the pride and the allegiance that one achieves from putting in the effort to get it right.  There is a lot to learn and a lot to explore, and if you buy smart - there is a pretty clear upgrade path.  If you buy the VPI Scoutmaster, first VPI still supports it, if you need a new arm pivot or a new motor they have it.  There is an upgrade path to the heavier aluminum platter, different feet, the JMW-10.5 arm and base, the dual-pivot, and each one will improve incrementally the music which then drives you back to re-listening to all your vinyl albums, again and again.  If you were to buy the Soundsmith Carmen MKII cartridge that is on-sale at Elusive Disk for $699 - this is an awesome cartridge for the money, easy to drive, quiet and they will rebuild it for $199.  So, your cartridge life cycle cost is $199/1000-hrs.

Now, if you add up what I just discussed - DAC (Benchmark - new) $1700, Turntable/arm (VPI used) - $1500, Cartridge (Soundsmith Carmen - new) - $699, total cost = $3900, add $100 for turntable incidentals = $4000, right on budget with a 5 year plan for possible turntable upgrades.

Just one opinion, but I gave up on investing in digital and invested in vinyl for the very reasons just stated.  Its your journey and its your experiment, make it your own.

R/Neil

Yes.  Absolutely.  Great sound and the joy of collection new and old albums.  Nothing I like better than spending $8 on ebay or discogs for a near perfect 40 0r 50 year old LP.  

I started seven years ago with a Basis 2500 table and a Dynavector MC cartridge.  It sounded so much richer than my  Esoteric X-03se I have virtually not played digital at home since.

You are approaching this the right way.

From all this fodder and nonsense, if anything realize this.... opinions are biased so find your own bias. You can't be wrong with what's right for you, but can always be wrong when you preach what's right for everyone else. Avoid generalized statements like the narrow minded ones on unipivot arms, as there are always exceptions to the rules and or the opinions of others. Some prefer an SME arm others a Graham unipivot. Nobodies wrong if they like what they have. They become daft and wrong when they don't like what you have and constantly remind you ad nauseum why thier choice would be better for you. If a dealer knocked everyone else's product and praised only his own lines, would his word really be in arguably always correct, yet alone trusted as a fits all no exceptions end .......
Listen and go with your ears and your gut on sound and comfort of price and use....4U
Enjoy....we're only here for one trip....

Well looks like vinyl lost another one, good more albums for me to play on my far inferior VPI unipivot arms.  Yea