Why does the VPI motor thump

I have the same issue on my Classic II. Matt was somewhat offended when I asked him how to fix the problem. He made it abundantly clear that it was NOT a problem with the turntable but rather my preamp was picking up the collapsing magnetic field of TT motor when turning it off.

He said the two solutions are either install a larger cap ( I don't recall the value) or use the mute switch on the pre, which is what he does. That seems to be the easiest solution so that is what I do too.

That thump is why I mute my preamp before turning the motor off. I change LP side, clean LP and stylus, start the motor, wait for the stylus to drop into the groove then I un-mute. No thump through the speakers with the preamp muted. Mofi's explanation about the capacitor issue is a long running problem with VPI motors.

..then why does my VPI turn off silently??

04-16-14: Stringreen
..then why does my VPI turn off silently??

Luck? Or do you use the mute switch too?
No one said that every single motor VPI ever made thumps, but obviously there are enough of them out there on the market that do thump that threads like this are very common. Search the archives here and at AA, you'll see that this is a common problem.

John is right. Well known fact. I was a VPI dealer for many years and this goes all the way back to the HW-19 series.

I've personally owned well over 50 different VPI tables and most, but not all of them did this. I think it has a lot to do with the preamp and interconnect cables also. Many owners have stated that changing interconnects solved the problem.

It's not a VPI problem per se, but just the luck of the draw with associated equipment.