VPI Classic 3 or SME 20/2

SME annihilates VPI. This is not even fair. The cheapest SME Model 10 wipes the floor with the most expensive VPI offerings. OP are you joking?

Well I picked it up today. A little dusty but otherwise looking like a battleship that will outlast us all. I will report back on my thoughts on the comparison.

good job

I started a similar thread as this over the Hoffman site and so here is what I wrote over there this morning:

“my thoughts... are pretty clear right from the outset. In short, I'm thrilled that I made the effort despite the fact that it ate up most of an entire day and now I have some selling to do. The SME is a pretty massive upgrade over the sound I had with the Classic 3 in just about every parameter. At twice the retail price I suppose one would expect this, but you're always worried about the diminishing returns factor. 

I'm not sure I have the language to describe the nature of the upgrade other than the obvious - the engineering and build quality aspect of the SME is staggering and eons beyond the fit and finish of the VPI. It feels like a military spec piece of gear (though to be fair the glossy piano black of the VPI is very appealing to me and overall I find it to be a beautiful turntable). 

In terms of SQ the best I can say for now is that it reminds me very much of when I went from a PrimaLuna amplifier to the VAC that I have now. If you'd told me that I had to live with that PrimaLuna for the rest of my days I would not have complained in the slightest - it was a great amp, well built, lovely sound, and price-to-performance-wise an incredible bargain. But from about the first note I heard through the VAC I was aware that it was a different class of audio altogether and there was no going back for me. 

I'd listened to the VPI quite a bit the past few days and very much doubted whether it was worth it even to pursue another tt because it sounded so full and big and alive. And I still feel that if the Classic 3 with 3d arm were the last rig I ever owned I'd be a happy man. But the SME is simply in another class to my ears, and I heard it that way after about 30 seconds of s1, t1 of Brubeck's Bossa Nova USA (2-eye, long time reference record for me though I'm not exactly sure why...).

The many many criticisms that I've read on the web that SME's sound dull and lifeless... this is truly baffling to me. Usually when there is a prevalent criticism of a component I find myself somewhat agreeing even if it doesn't come to be much of a problem for me. Lyras are bright. Check. VPI's are noisy. Indeed. But this dull and lifeless SME business - to say that this is not my experience is to understate the case considerably.

In conclusion, thank you all for your input. I'm grateful for this site to engage in threads like this.”

We use an SME 20/3 with Series V tonearm and Ortofon Cadenza Black cartridge in our 2-channel reference system. :-)