Upgrade for Vpi aries table

I have an Aries and have in the past pondered the same question, but I have a good friend with a TNT who has tried both, and have benefitted from his experience.

The acrylic platter and outer ring combo yield a more neutral sound than the cork/lead/acrylic platter, and the bearing on the former is quieter. The older platter, however, is warmer and some may prefer its sound in certain systems.

In short, the acrylic platter / outer ring combo are not necessarily better, just different.

If you are still using the original noisy motor, I would upgrade that to the 300 rpm motor first. IMHO, for $150, it is the most cost effective upgrade for Aries.

The dealer told me the motor upgrade cost 695.00. Where do you get it for 150.00.

Gmuffley - Are you sure the new plattler doesn't weigh as much or more than the original? Just going from memory, which is dangerous, but I thought I remembered the new one feeling heavier. Perhaps this was only with the ring clamp installed.
Taters - The way I went was SDS then Platter & ring, Am still running the stock motor and plan to keep it. As all three tweaks are designed to do the same thing but in a different way (provide the most consistent speed possible) I suspect that whichever change you decide to make first will be the one that provides the most significant improvement.
Raquel - I wonder if some of the warmer sound you mentioned is related to the new versus old center weight/screw arrangement. When I bought the new center weight VPI told me to keep the old one as it sounds warmer and some may prefer it.

I have a friend who bought a demo VPI Aries TT with VPI 12in. tonearm for CAN$3500. He also told me that the motor is noisy from day one, the rubber drive belt is lousy(transmitting all the noise and vibration to the platter) and the speed of the TT is not accurate. He is not happy with it at all. It is amazing that an expensive TT like this has all these problems in the first place. If you really follow the upgrade path as suggested, you will spend alot of $$$ and still end up with a second rated TT.

My advice is do not do any upgrade now. I will sell the VPI ASAP and buy another well designed TT instead when you have the $$$.