...for those with problems with their VPI unipivot....they make a 2nd pivot which makes the arm as stable as any and improves the class A sound of the 3D version as well.
I have it installed on my Prime and with all due respect to Harry and Mat, calling it a "dual pivot" or "second pivot" or just a "pivot" is marketing BS. IMO, it ought to be called a stabilizer. The dictionary defines "pivot" as
the central point, pin, or shaft on which a mechanism turns or oscillates.synonyms:fulcrum, axis, axle, swivel;
Once installed, the VPI unipivot arm does not TURN around this second contact point. It instead now has a stabilizing point that SLIDES along the slippery decal applied to the base of the arm.It naturally slides in a very subtle arc but that does not make it a pivot since the arc is fixed and dependant on the one true UNI-pivot.
When one examines the degree of engineering that goes into a Kuzma 4Point arm or the gem from Swedish Analog Technologies, it is disingenuous to pretend that VPI's very simple approach to the tonearm is anything but a simple unipivot with a cheap after-market clamp-on stabilizing device attached. At the risk on being politically incorrect, it reminds me of a one legged downhill skier using ski poles with mini-ski's on the ends to stabilize himself/herself. Perhaps Harry was watching such a skier when he came up with the idea. I was the original owner of a Classic when it first came out, have owned a Prime since it first came out, and I have a 9T arm on my restored Thorens TD124. The truth, IMHO, is that manufacturing an arm out of plastic with 3D printing is 98% gimmick-it sounds only marginally better than the very fine sounding 9T with identical cartridges and professionally aligned/set-up. VPI makes a very nice product at a very fair price in the USA but VPI arms are relatively crude (but effective) products.
Why did Harry go the unipivot route in the first place (and Graham and many others)? Simple. Manufacturing a gimballed arm that avoids virtually all friction/stiction in all planes is exceedingly expensive and hard to accomplish.
I think Mikey went a bit overboard in his review of the ill-fated $30,000 Classic Direct. Why would any sane person spend so much for a deck with a fairly unsophisticated arm? At the time of release, the gimmick/novelty of a 3D printed arm helped make the rig marketable and I have no doubt the drive system of the Classic Direct was every bit the marvel Mikey said it was but the 3D arm did not warrant the praise he gave it.. I suspect that before long, most potential customers sufficiently well-heeled to buy the Classic Direct realized that there were better alternatives and that is why that deck is no longer offered. I hate to be cynical, but one has to wonder if the release and then withdrawal of the $30,000 table with 3D arm was also calculated to make the $3800 Prime seem like one hell of a bargain-because whether calculated or not, that is what it did when the table-buying consumer saw virtually the same 3D arm on a deck that was a tenth of the price.
I can't say this enough-I appreciated VPI for putting together some very reasonably priced BUNDLES that we call "complete turntables". But-the accessories-from ADS, to periphery rings to spare arm-wands and every other little doo-dad like the falsely named "dual pivot" are vastly over-priced and that makes me think less of the Company. I love my Phoenix Eagle and Roadrunner-they transformed the performance of the Prime far more than the "dual pivot" or 3D plastic arm. Being a much larger company with economies of scale, VPI should have purchased Bill Carlin's design technology and marketed a more affordable, more effective, and less obtrusive version of the ADS.
So that is my take on VPI. Oh, one more thing; VPI's wink-wink BS with Soundstage Direct with and a few other large web-based e-tailers who discount and offer attractive trade-in programs is a disservice to the long-term loyal bricks and mortar retailers who helped build the Company. When I needed help with my Prime, I got none from the salesman at SS Direct (over the broken-in-shipping 3D fingerlift). The next time I needed help, I went to my local retailer who remedied my mis-adjustment of VTA and fixed a cue lever problem I could not figure out on my own. I learned a valuable lesson-pay more upfront and you get rewarded with hands-on assistance when you need it. If Mat cared more about the customer than the bottom line, he would prohibit e-tailers from competing with B&M retailers by placing the same geographic restrictions on web sales that other manufacturers implement. Again, VPI would be nowhere close to where it is now and Mat would still be a school teacher if it were not for the B&M dealers who promoted, sold, and SERVICED the product to ensure customer satisfaction. VPI no longer wants to answer the phone or respond to emails and yet they expect the customer to get the help they need from some stranger at SSD or the like? Good luck with that!
