How does the VPI Aries II stand up to current mid priced tables?


I've always loved the elegant look of the Aries but never owned one. Well I have scratched that itch and purchased one right here on Agon and it's en route right now. Seems to be pretty stock with the 10.5 arm and a possible motor upgrade, excellent condition. Has this turntable aged well? All thoughts are welcome.

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Mount an ET 2.0 arm on that table with Stillpoints and Sota's total Eclipse. 

I finally did get an Aries 3, after admiring their aesthetic for so long. Pretty well upgraded with super platter, single-motor flywheel, ring clamp, and HW40 feet. Now added Fatboy gimbal 10 arm and SDS too.

They're absolutely great tables! And after 15+ years of owning tables with springs or magnetic levitation, I'm really enjoying a NON suspended table for a change. These suspended tables all have their problem resonant frequencies in the subsonic range - easily excited by footsteps or loud SPL playback (unless you're on solid concrete slab), and then the problem becomes HUGE because the energy level is so massive that nothing will fully mitigate it short of a steep electronic rumble filter. The Aries 3 has its "problem" resonance in the 100Hz "drum beat" range. In my setups, the 100Hz is now so much easier to deal with, basically because the energy level is lower. I had a problem with the 3D arm making it much worse. But the 10.5i metal arm and Fatboy arm are great. The 10.5i is the quietest wand at 100Hz, but the Fatboy in sounds particularly fantastic and even matches well to Koetsu.

VPI tables don't use super exotic materials, but they're very well built with sensible proven materials, and a very well thought-out design overall. I enjoyed their setup and learning about them. I enjoy the tweak-ability and endless upgrade options. I really do enjoy the sound! I was wrong about the VPI unipivot being scary all these years - they're fine (my resonance issue with the 3D aside), and the dual pivot works well if you require more stability.

I have a Superscoutmaster....when I changed to the super platter (all metal) it really opened up the sound.  There are 2 motors that oppose each other and put on a rim drive.  The table improved yet again...then mounted big brass cone feet under....all improvements. I use a 10 inch plastic (or something) vpi  arm with a 2nd pivot...all good.

1.5 yrs and still happy with my Aries. I think it’s one of the most beautiful tables available and by far the most attractive table VPI has ever built. I did upgrade the feet, but there are other things I should do, like the platter and maybe the fatboy arm.