2. analog
  3. 1113803352

So my wife says to me this morning

So my wife says to me this morning "What did you do to your stereo"?

This morning I took the DL103 off the VPI Scout and mounted it on the Rega P25 with modified RB250 (paint stripped off the armtube and tungsten counterweight installed). I was dying to hear what differences where to be had with my tonearm mods.

"it sounds do much better. Sounds more like music, and less tinny."

Grrr!

That's not what I wanted to hear. The VPI costs so much more, and it looks so much better! Should sound better, right?

It did sound good, damn good. My feet were tapping for the first time.

Well, I put the Scout back in, and had the wife listen again. She said "it sounds irritating, it sounds like noise."

I guess I could put the Scout on display and the P25 in the back somewhere and have it spin the vinyl instead of the Scout.

:( I just love the looks of the Scout.
cableplex
plato
1,543 posts
 
Cableplex, I used to own a VPI Aries with the JMW 10 arm and ClearAudio Gamma cartridge and I could never get it to sound the way I wanted it to. I went to a Michell Gyro SE with a OL Rega 250 (and a Benz) and got much better results. My feeling is that certain cartridges don't perform to their best potential in unipivot arms like the VPI.

I just ordered a BIX turntable kit with Rega RB250 from Sound Odyssey for a second system and I can't wait to receive it and get it up and running. It looks like it should offer plenty o' bang for the buck.

TWL's suggestion of putting the Rega arm on the VPI might be a good one. But TWL, what is the $2 HiFi mod that you mentioned? Is it the lead weights on the pivots deal?
pbb
1,140 posts
 
Wow! Paint removed from the arm, how does it sound? I bet there is a vast improvement, although I heard it changes the arm resonance and may prove a bit of a disadvantage with cartridges with a stiffer suspension.
jbello
115 posts
 
My P-25 never sounded worth a darn, tried everything except stripping the paint off the arm.wonder if a different color will help.
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
yet another lesson in Synergy to be sure...
cableplex OP
40 posts
 
I had the paint bead blasted and then shot peened.

This process compresses the surface porosity and makes the resultant part stronger and stiffer. This mod is what made my P25 sound better than the Scout.
More to discover