2. analog
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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
melm
1,066 posts
 
"For whatever it may be worth, I remember distinctly while deep in VPI upgrade madness years ago that HW felt very strongly that the very best platter for the HW19 was the aluminum platter. . . . I was always left with the impression that it was the improvement in speed stability due to the heavier platters’ greater rotational inertia that made the most significant improvement regardless of material used."

HW, who has always been VPI’s marketeer-in-chief has said many things in favor of the aluminum platter as that is the platter VPI sells now. However he is on the public record as writing that the acrylic-lead platter is preferable (given good materials) and that the aluminum platter is "a very, very good alternative." You also have to ask why, if aluminum was better, he went to the more expensive acrylic in the first place and why the acrylic was clearly more favorably reviewed. Two platters of virtually the same weight on the same base, and the clear preference was for the acrylic-lead.

As to weight, (and I agree that flywheel matters and VPI also sells flywheels) any of these can be made heavy by way of sandwich with heavier materials, or by making the platter very thick, as VPI and a lot of others have done. It is an issue separate from the material used.
frogman
7,409 posts
 
Of course that they are separate issues.  The point is simply that one should be careful about making decisions about the superiority of one platter over another without considering all the variables including the rest of the system.  Although I came to prefer the lead-loaded acrylic platters IN MY SYSTEMS, I can easily understand why someone else might find the tonal signature of an aluminum platter to be preferable in a different system. 
gpgr4blu
1,080 posts
 
I have the Superplatter which I like alot. I heard that VPI's contractor had trouble machining the Superplatter to allow for proper rotational speed and stability. But mine works just fine.
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
perazzi28, Thanks for the lead on the table mat. I've used lead mats in the past & didn't care for them. I do like the materials he is using on that one though.
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
Just keep in mind folks, that when you’re ascribing characteristics to a material (whether it be acrylic, PVC or aluminum), making an apples to apples comparison is difficult to do if you’re comparing platters of identical dimensions.

You won’t know if the differences your hearing relate to the mass difference or the material’s sonic characteristics.

Higher mass may a sonic effect with respect to how the bearing’s thrust interface is loaded (for better or worse, and affecting energy transmission).

More importantly, higher mass will in general, smooth out the drive system’s speed characteristics, and you "hear" the effects of speed instability in ways that are much more subtle than pitch stability, wow and flutter, etc. At it’s finest level of granularity, micro levels of speed instability are experienced as IM distortion. 

Looking at it from the other side (improving these micro-instabilities), you'll get a cleaner rendering of high frequencies, as well as more extended highs and (surprising to many) a richer harmonic presentation in note fundamentals (think bowed double bass and cello).

If you have the time, wade through the first page of Moncrief’s review of the Rockport Sirius III on IAR.  Moncrief is a strange dude, but he lays out the situation fairly clearly in this regard (albeit in a very wordy manner). At a minimum, it will cure your insomnia ;-)

Having said all of this (in the VPI universe) you’re obviously left with the decision as to whether platter "A" works better for you than platter "B". I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. Just be careful about generalizing your conclusions with respect to materials.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design
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