VPI Rim Drive


Amongst the bills that came today was a number 10 envelope containing a new belt for the rim drive of my Superscout. The belt is a brown color replacing the black one and feels more "tacky" and soft. I pulled out the first album my hand fell on and played the first track with the old belt. I then removed it and installed the new belt, pushed the table to the motor assembly and listened again. The new belt is better by far. The layering of instruments was much more pronounced, although the width of the stage retained its proportion as before. The highs are certainly cleaner, clearer, and the whole spectrum is faster. Instead of hearing blocks of instruments, I hear seperate instruments cooperating in the event. Loud and thickly arranged sections are effortless unraveled - you can clearly identify all the separate instruments in the cooperation of the piece. Chords can be heard as separate tones contributing to the quality of the chord. Tambourine and other percussion instruments are fast and clean..the jingles are more delicate, brassy, and separate. The lows are more effortless...not louder, just at ease going down, down, and down. I encourage all of you with the dual motor VPI rim drives to get one of these new belts. It is a pain to put on, but you only have to do it once.
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..sorry...didn't mean to scare anyone, however if you have soft rubber feet you're ok. Who knows though...things change hourly in this hobby. I was referring to a feet change from the original felt/hard variety.
Really appreciate the brilliant idea HW had to rediscover the virtues of the idler wheel like on the Thorens TD 124 back 50 years ago, and those TT sound so good even compared to actual top belt TT . Major upgrade and no way to go back to belt drive once you tryed Rim. This is a small revolution in TT design and Mosin understood that well with his Saskia.
What really helps optimize the performance of this drive is minimizing conatact pressure between the drive wheel and platter. I have found that the new belt's tackier grip enables lighter conact pressure than the old belt. This, along with it's increased compliance, is what helps it perform better. Fractions of a millimeter make a big difference. This is where patience pays off. The best placement seems to be a point where the heavy platter continues to turn briefly on shut down. This also tends to be where the speed will be highest. Also, contact noise is lowest to non-existent at this point and the KAB display is frozen. I think this is because nothing can be machined perfectly round and at this point any minute irregularities have minimal effect. Too much pressure and the display oscillates ever so slighty back and forth. For the perfectionists out there, patience and diligence pay off.