The Better Table?

I prefer the aesthetics of the Aries but I'm not sure you will hear a huge difference in sound between the two.

Call VPI. They are intimately familiar with both of them, have heard them with a variety of cartridges, and are the best people to know the differences. I always found them very reliable in their assessments. I have a Superscout with rim drive and love it.

Can't go wrong with either but I would skip the rim drive for now, it needs work as reports are surfacing on vibrations being pick up by the chartridges. Could be a problem specific to MC's but wait until it shakes out. I have the Aries.

Buconero117, I have not personally heard about vibration feedback problems with the rim drive mechanism. I have been using the rim drive on my VPI TNT-6 in my SET system for about four months now. The tonearm and cartridge are the SME IV and a low output MC (Benz L2), and I have not experienced any vibration problems. I would be interested in any further information you might have about the problem some are apparently experiencing.

Yes..there were problems at the very beginning of the rim drive's release. It seems that the motor assembly must have soft feet, and the table assembly must be solidly seated. If the old solid metal feet are used on the motor assembly there is a speed fluctuation, and an arm instability. VPI now includes soft rubber feet. These problems are now gone. The rim drive is a very big improvement to the already excellent belt drive.