VPI Classic 3 Upgrades or Move On to Something New

The Achilles heel of the VPI Classic series is the motor noise transmitted directly to the plinth and picked up by the tonearm and cartridge, which is especially noticeable if running at 45 rpm with the HRX pulley, in which case the motor is spinning faster than when using the stepped pulley. At 33 rpm, it is only heard when putting my ear up to the speaker on a quiet or blank track. Admittedly, it’s somewhat faint, but I believe it contributes to the lack of ease which is ameliorated with a better isolated design. But the rigid mounting of motor, platter and tonearm, in combination with the heavy platter, does give very good speed stability, especially when hooked up to a motor controller or a PS Audio power regenerator. One thing that slightly lessened the motor noise on my Classic 4 was removing the rubber grommets between motor plate and plinth, then tightly screwing the plate to the platter, which better grounds the noise to the plinth. Before, the motor was freer to vibrate in place which was louder.

Never mind the table....

Is it plugged into the best phono stage you can afford? After that, up the food chain with a new SS cart. You will get endless opinion saying the VPI is this or that, but your ears tell you it's fine. 

Treat yourself to this .Submit your best offer, and see if a middle ground can be met.
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa50ed-vpi-industries-hw-40-40th-anniversary-direct-drive-turnta...

Or this
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa5a7g-vpi-avenger-reference-turntable-turntables

Thanks to all for your valuable feedback.  Much appreciated.

tablejockey's comment about a good phono stage is a good one

but certainly not exclusive of getting a better performing table

Currently swapping in and out two integrateds with built-in phono stages  - Vinny Rossi L2i SE w/L2 phono module and Linear Tube Audio Ultralinear w/ MM/MC phono stage.