VPI Classic 3 Upgrades or Move On to Something New

@bigby 

Thanks for the info Alan, ... especially your comment that most of your listening is by streaming with Tidal. 

An fyi, ... I just replaced my old ARC Ref CD-8 (straight up redbook CD player) for an ARC Ref CD-9SE CD/DAC player.  I owned the CD-8 for over 9 years and it was pre-owned when I bought it.  The CD-8 transport started to glitch out so I replaced it with the CD-9.  The CD-8 owed me nothing after all those years of great trouble-free service. 

The CD-9 can handle various source inputs (e.g. USB, AES, Toslink, etc), but can't handle DSD or MQA.  Apologies in advance, ... I am too old to understand what I just wrote.  ;)  

I mentioned all of this because I am looking to dip my toe into the "streaming waters" (kinda' a pun) like you.  I was thinking about starting out slowly by hooking my Windows PC directly into the CD-9 DAC via a USB cable.  Several streaming services have been suggested, including Tidal, Qobuz, etc.    

All that said, I still love my vinyl.  My kids buy me lots of well pressed jazz reissues, which are fantastic, including artists such as Mingus, Brubeck, Monk, etc.  And I still have most of my old LPs from over 40 years ago.  One of favorite artists from the day is still Linda Ronstadt.

Well, as far as vinyl goes, based on comments from you and others, I think a proportionate investment might be a new VPI 3D arm and an SDS controller.

Thanks.

Bruce
    

bigby

... Since each motor is a little different in construction and the electricity coming into our houses is not perfectly regulated, the SDS allows you to set the correct speed using a strobe ...

The AC line frequency - which is what controls the speed of an AC synchronous motor - is actually very tightly regulated, because the stability of the electrical grid requires it. The root of the speed differential that the SDS corrects is mostly the result of variations in pulley size and in the case of the VPI SAMA motors, the distance between the motor and the platter.

I am a big fan of the SDS and upgraded to it from the old VPI PLC. As an FYI, Steve at VAS offers an inexpensive modification to the SDS which is said to ensure longer life. I had him modify mine out of an abundance of caution because I don’t plan on parting with my VPI TNT anytime soon, if ever.

If you are using the dual pivot upgrade, as am I, I highly recommend my additional upgrade to the dual pivot.

I offer a thin PEET film that is carefully placed  on your dual pivot plate. will reduce noise thus increase clarity.

PM me

Ok coarse a MyMat or two?.....

Hey all, Mat from VPI here :)  Wanted to jump in and say hi and try to offer my assistance in anyway.  It has been rough this year because of the ups and downs of COVID and us having our second child.  There have been weeks where it has been a crap shoot and we still have the auto message up warning that messages might be delayed.  When my daughter was born (which took Jane and myself out of the office) at the same time we had two different COVID scares and lost all the Office Staff members for almost 3 weeks.  I chalk it up to being another 2020 moment.

Anyway, @slaw  mod sounds interesting and could be something cool to try.

 Any table with the motor built in always has the potential for transmission of vibrations with the heavy top plate, dampening material, and separate motor plate it measures extremely well. @cleeds nails it with his comment about AC in general.  That being said, things to check are to make sure there isn't any gunk in the motor spindle, and that the set screws on the pulley are properly fastened. 

We have found there to be other factors that can be at play regarding the room, isolation, and placement of the turntable.  I will say that our HW-40 feet are the best feet (within a non stratosphere price point) we have ever made and isolate better than all other feet of ours in that range.  Another thing to look out for especially when working with super low output cartridges is what it can pickup in your system that you don't want running through your speakers.  Whenever HW would run the Ortofon A-95 he always preferred it with a subsonic filter.

In general if anyone ever has a problem first us an email and I'll try to personally hop in to try and help :)