I am glad to hear you got the gimbaled fatboy.
During the six years that I owned various VPI turntables, I figured that the VPI detractors on this Board were just internet trolls and gutter-snipes.
Well, wisdom has resulted in a different view. VPI tables appeal to the eye in magazines and on websites but once you see it in person, you see an assemblage of clunk. They are crudely manufactured and crudely engineered.
There are so many TT's at $10,000 that are better designed and put together. The Palmer 2.5i is one example (granted with a great arm it is 14K), the EAT Forte S is another superior deck, and the SME 15A (yes, 4K more) is yet another deck that would blow the Avenger away in terms of engineering sophistication and long-term pride of ownership and musical pleasure.
I apologize for taking a pee on your parade. Do you think I am just making crap up? Ask a mechanical engineer to look at the designs. The VPI inverted platter bearing is not nearly as smooth and durable as the designs incorporated into the decks mentioned above. I bet you will notice it yourself. You get a huge slab of nicely machined aluminum that you slide onto a crudely designed steel post with a ball bearing worthy of a high school shop student. The motors are off the shelf and not particularly durable. And on top of that, the new line of gimbaled arms, while superior to the unipivots, are once again the result of a new launch to market-whereas the best tonearms are the result of many years of careful development and engineering expertise that VPI lacks.
