Note the ad copy for the new VPI 'Classic':
*New investment cast aluminum high inertia platter with precision inverted bearing.*
-Acrylic platters now suck
*Speed stability on par with a master tape - Due to the rigid mounting of motor - platter - tonearm there isn't any random motion to cause speed instabilities.*
-SAMAs now suck, rim drives are irrelevant, SDS no longer necessary
*Absolutely solid, non-resonating laminated one-piece chassis holding all comonents(sic). This is not a wooden frame; it is a solid laminated 2.5" thick MDF block with 11 gauge steel attached to the top with silicone and long bolts through all the layers. The chassis weighs 30 pounds and is totally non-resonant.*
-Acrylic/steel-or-aluminum plinths now suck
It seems VPI, in it's attempt to be everything to everyone, keeps a firm finger on the diy/small manufacturer scene, and produces products designed not for a company 'sound', but to cash in on what's popular at the moment. 'Hey, idlers are a happening scene, let's copy Teres and produce a rim drive'. 'Oh, man, lot's of diy-ers building massy, CLD plinths-we'd better jump on that bandwagon'. Etc.
Looking at what Albert Porter et al are doing with the SP-10s, does anyone wonder if VPI isn't working on a direct drive?
As per the poster above, even the dealers don't know how to present this scatter-shot tt approach to a prospective customer. Even given the basketball-sized grain of salt one must take with the Fremer review, how does his analysis square with this VPI statement for the 'Classic':
*The sound of the Classic Turntable is fast, clean, wide open, with deep powerful bass, and unequalled in speed stability. The Classic Turntable gives any turntable made regardless of price a serious "run for the money." This completely new design has produced the simplest and one of the best sounding VPI tables to date.*
Strange stuff.
*New investment cast aluminum high inertia platter with precision inverted bearing.*
-Acrylic platters now suck
*Speed stability on par with a master tape - Due to the rigid mounting of motor - platter - tonearm there isn't any random motion to cause speed instabilities.*
-SAMAs now suck, rim drives are irrelevant, SDS no longer necessary
*Absolutely solid, non-resonating laminated one-piece chassis holding all comonents(sic). This is not a wooden frame; it is a solid laminated 2.5" thick MDF block with 11 gauge steel attached to the top with silicone and long bolts through all the layers. The chassis weighs 30 pounds and is totally non-resonant.*
-Acrylic/steel-or-aluminum plinths now suck
It seems VPI, in it's attempt to be everything to everyone, keeps a firm finger on the diy/small manufacturer scene, and produces products designed not for a company 'sound', but to cash in on what's popular at the moment. 'Hey, idlers are a happening scene, let's copy Teres and produce a rim drive'. 'Oh, man, lot's of diy-ers building massy, CLD plinths-we'd better jump on that bandwagon'. Etc.
Looking at what Albert Porter et al are doing with the SP-10s, does anyone wonder if VPI isn't working on a direct drive?
As per the poster above, even the dealers don't know how to present this scatter-shot tt approach to a prospective customer. Even given the basketball-sized grain of salt one must take with the Fremer review, how does his analysis square with this VPI statement for the 'Classic':
*The sound of the Classic Turntable is fast, clean, wide open, with deep powerful bass, and unequalled in speed stability. The Classic Turntable gives any turntable made regardless of price a serious "run for the money." This completely new design has produced the simplest and one of the best sounding VPI tables to date.*
Strange stuff.