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VPI 40th Anniversary Table After Warranty Support Question

Hey guys. I am new here and I wanted to bring up a "thought question/experiment". While talking with a friend about turntables, I brought up the new VPI 40th. My friend mentioned a few interesting points that made me think before jumping on it.

The main question is "What will the after warranty service be like?". Will VPI continue to support this table after the 5 year warranty and for how long? This product is a limited run item so it brings up the question of will there still be parts or replacements for it after 6, 10 or even 20 years? Would it even make sense to stock extra direct drive motors for that long? Would there be applicable "aftermarket" options?

We can reference the Traveler turnable, which started selling in 2012-2013 but discontinued not even 5 years after, as a cautionary tale. Other members on this site have tried to get their Traveler tonearms repaired through VPI only to be told that they cannot be fixed because there are not replacement parts to fix it.. A replacement "used" arm would cost $500, almost the same amount as the resell value of the table itself. This also shows a severe depreciation in value (about 50% drop from MSRP) for the Traveler. In a broader light, are people still able to acquire parts, like the bearing, at a reasonable price for older tables (HRX, TNT, Aries, Classic, HW-19 or HW-17/27) from VPI?
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/vpi-turntable-repair

The other question refers to the reliability of the table. Even with a 5 year warranty, nobody wants to have to use it. VPI is pretty well known for "1st gen" problems. Easy examples are again the Traveler, but also newer products like the ADS,the Nomad, and even the Prime tables. And a constantly revolving issue is the 3D tonearm, with the most recent issue being leakage.
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9674
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10772
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/need-help-and-advice-on-a-vpi-3d-arm

With a limited run table like the 40th, it would be pretty costly to redesign a V2 version. Have they performed an extensive quality check? Or will problems start to arise 1 year after? And if problems can hold out past the 5 years, how costly would it be to the user? Or would there be no parts for it?

Similar, but obscure discussions were brought up about the Voyager Preamplifier, which I have only seen article reviews of but no customer/ end user feedback. Any information on is also limited to 2017, nothing in 2018.
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9514

So what are your thoughts on the new VPI turntable?



magmadster
tablejockey
3,916 posts
 
That a significant investment.  Call VPI with your concerns.

Bases on your questions, and I were a dealer, I would suggest you  be a digital listener, and stay away from turntables.

Looks like a lot needless overthinking. I have nothing but positive experience with VPI. No company is perfect, but they support their users.

If you have that kind of dough for a turntable, I wouldn't be on a forum. I would be in a dealers face with questions. If he can't answer them, look elsewhere.


onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,229 posts
 
Hi fellow forum members!  As a thought experiment I just want to make anybody currently considering buying a VPI turntable to stop and have a panic attack.  There is the possibility that five years from now you may regret your decision.  Twenty years from now don't say I didn't warn you!
bsmg
296 posts
 
Here's another thought experiment; you could order one of these fine new VPI turntables and get killed in a car crash before it gets delivered.

Or the VPI could die in a Fedex truck crash and you would have to wait for another one.
vpiindustries
18 posts
 
Hey all,

Thought I would hop in and say hi on some points.  It has been a bit crazy with the post holiday time and a lot of staff changes (adding additional staff and the training curve that comes with it.)

Regarding the Traveler arm there might be a miss communication somewhere because we do have and are ready to service all Traveler tables/arms.  I will say there is a bit of a lag time since all the the Traveler parts are stored off site and my main Traveler tech needs to be cloned so I can get him over there.  Regardless, its on my radar now so I'll grab my guy Jan and head over there to grab whatever he needs to service your arm.   Now I'm not 100% familiar with all the details of our table and what has been going on and not sure what communication has already happened between my office and the floor.  Again though, they have been extra crazy with the time of year and we will get everything wrapped up :)

In general, all VPI products are serviceable.  Some of the much older tables might have alternative replacement parts from what it was originally made with but in the end I don't want to (knowingly) leave anyone hanging with their VPI.

It is true about first generation items and learning curve and we certainly learned a lot from the Classic Direct which was our first Direct Drive.  Overall the HW-40 (and Classic Direct) are all serviceable long after the warranty.  Although, the only Classic Direct can we had to replace was one that had a forklift go through the box during shipping :p

I don't know if we will be around in 130 years but we will certainly be around for another 40 and if my daughter (or other future children) take up the mantle they might keep it going for another 40 there after.     

We are not perfect, and yes we have learned a lot as we have explored new aspects of technology and design but we will always do our best to the support the customer and all tables regardless of the price point.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,405 posts
 
Why not just buy the Technics SL1200G for 4 grand?  It bested my Prime by a long shot and if you are worried about service years from now, there shouldn't be any problems getting it fixed.  Technics makes their own DD motors where VPI purchases them from a supplier.
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