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VPI Industries---Love the Company as Much as their Turntables

I'm starting this thread because I just purchased my 4th VPI turntable. I started with a Cliffwood base model and kept working my way up the ladder until I recently purchased a Signature DS with the Analog Drive System (ADS). Over the years I have owned at least a dozen turntables ranging from a Thorens (TD145 MKII) to Rega Planars 3 through 8, and as I was contemplating a Rega P10, I looked at my VPI Prime in its stealth black and the MNPC Tech chrome feet and decided to slap on an old Ortofon  Quintet Bronze Cartridge and began listening---WOW--I missed the VPI sound. I started tweaking the Prime and realized why I had moved on to Rega--great tables but lacked the raw power that a VPI table properly set-up can do.

After a few months ignoring the P8, I decided to contact Mat Weisfeld the current family audio guru at VPI, thinking I could upgrade my Prime with their new gimbal tonearm and signature base. Over the years I have met Mat ay several different vinyl and audio conventions--I have even been to the factory in Cliffwood, New Jersey on two occasions. Mat is a high energy brilliant man who understands the visceral power of quality music reproduction. he's also one of the most accessible CEO's I have ever encountered in any industry. Anyway, he e-mails me back and says forget upgrades, I'll take your Prime in trade and outfit you with a new Signature DS. Since the factory is just up the NJ Turnpike from Philly, I drove up to see him.

The fellow that built my table, Howie was just packing it up when I arrived. What a beautiful piece of art this is!! The Rosewood finish sandwiched between a shiny metal plate is amazing. The new gimbal tonearm has an amazing musical replay ability and the new HW-40 feet isolate any extraneous noise. Is a fully rigged turntable (cartridge, ADS controller, Signature TT) pushing $10K a great value?

I think it's a veritable bargain--if you properly adjust the VTA, align the cartridge, the Azimuth and add a 1 to 3 inch solid wood base as recommended, this TT sounds better than anything I have ever owned.and in my opinion, properly set up is 'As Good As it Gets"--Good times and noodle salad.

The TT is great, but the real value is VPI itself. A family owned business run by passionate audiophiles as well as employees who are proud of the products they produce. That is the real bargain.

I started this thread to see what experiences others have had--to me a great piece of kit entertains you for sure, but a company that is service and job 1 is priceless.. 

mervo
mervo OP
34 posts
 

What impresses me about the Prime VPI line is its consistency throughout the line. Mat Weisfeld (the current head of VPI) has stated that the company is shifting from its Pivot tonearm to the Gimbal  as its standard tonearm. I have had both and the wobbles other owners have voiced concern about never concerned me--although I did tweak the azimuth and the tracking force/weight more often than on other tonearms. The bottom line is, I heard little difference between the gimbal and the pivot styles.

I am curious as to what cartridges VPI "Philes" have installed on their TTs and ask that those who review this thread, disclose their kits for comparison.

tablejockey
3,860 posts
 

'The bottom line is, I heard little difference between the gimbal and the pivot styles."

Interesting...Does that mean the VPI gimbal design isn't much of an "improvement?"  Guess it's in the ear of the listener. The gimbal looks just as low tech comparing the uni pivot.

Never found the uni pivot to be "unfriendly" on my now 13 year old Classic.

Any of the Audio Technica OC9/ART series sound great on a VPI.

It's  the setup, LP and having a proper phonostage that will allow it to sound reasonably close to the uber tables.

As much as I like super tables, I could be happy with a DD HW40. Maybe with an aftermarket arm.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,686 posts
 

 

If anyone is interested in an Aries with the TNT-5 platter I described above, Audio Element in Pasadena, California just listed one here on Audiogon. The shop is owned and operated by a great guy, Brian Berdan, Brooks' son.

Brian worked in Brooks' shop (Brooks Berdan Ltd. in nearby Monrovia, which has been managed by Brian's mother Shelia since Brooks passing in 2011) part time as he was growing up, and was trained by Brooks in the art and science of turntable set up, speaker positioning, etc.

 

mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,845 posts
 

Interesting...Does that mean the VPI gimbal design isn’t much of an "improvement?" Guess it’s in the ear of the listener. The gimbal looks just as low tech comparing the uni pivot.

Never found the uni pivot to be "unfriendly" on my now 13 year old Classic.

Any of the Audio Technica OC9/ART series sound great on a VPI.

Yes my experience was that also the differences between Gimbal and Unipivot will be subtle, for most cartridges. If you have a Koetsu, they seem to prefer the stability of Gimbal (or at least a dual pivot). More of the arm’s sonic signature seems to come from its arm tube construction and materials: metal vs. 3D vs. Fatboy. The 3D & Fatboys are warmer / darker / smoother sounding - much like the VPI tables (Aries, HR-X, Avenger) themselves. If you have a Colibri, VPI with 3D or Fatboy is a pretty good bet for it. Generally, the unipivots are no big deal once you get used to it - I feared them for years before this. The Gimbal Fatboy's bearings are silky smooth. 

There is good reason VPI chooses to partner with Van den Hul and Audio Technica (I’m just extrapolating with the AT’s, it is not from experience) cartridges: they have an energetic, detailed top end that complements the VPI’s nature.

I also think the later versions of VPI’s metal unipivots are rather underrated - I like them. They’re less reactive / resonant in bass frequencies versus the 3D materials. And in my 2nd system where I had this stuff, those were the troublesome frequencies. It would probably be a different story if on concrete slab.

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