VPI Classic - Now you have one......

Cmalak,

I have a McIntosh MCD201 SACD Player, Kimber Kable Silver Streak IC, Black Sand Violet Z1 pc, Finite Element isolation. All in all, about $200 difference b/t my analog and digital front end. So, a fair comparison. I find that my rig has become very recording dependent (both digital and analog)That said, they are very close..(I'm not going to use all of the audiophile descriptives)give a little here take a little there. But the ringer is this (as my wife summed up) "The CD player sounds great, but it sounds as if the music is filtered through a machine and the turntable sounds more real more alive."

Thanks,
John

Thx John. Appreciate the response.

I have been quite happy with mine for the last several months, using Dyna XV-1s, ASR Mini Basis, Ortofon SUP and optional ring clamp. My biggest complaint I think is that in my system (ASR Basis Exclusive II, Usher BE20, Synergistic Research Tesla IC/speakers and quite a few PCs), the bass was deep, powerful but a bit only mellow/polite side. It is great on jazz,vocal but less fun on pop and large scale orchestral work. I don't think it was my system as my old turntable (Blue Note Piccolo) certainly was more fun, more pace although it could not match the VPI in most other aspect. Luckily, my dealer just replaced my VPI wire with Valhalla wire it it made a significant difference. Now the turntable has much better speed and rhythmic control and pace. Although Valhalla wire sounded a tad leaner right now on vocal but with better clarity. Let see if that will improve after breaking in a bit more.
I definitely think Valhalla wire is well worth the money. My dealer ordered Valhalla wire for JWM 12.5 for me so there is a little extra wire left to rewire the box as well.

Suteetat..have you tried using an SDS with your setup? It may make a difference in adding some punch and pace to the low frequency presentation of the Classic (and it may actually do so across the frequency band). Just a thought in case you have not tried it. Let us know. Thx

Cmalak, I have not tried SDS yet. I am using a 220v model so I will also need to change the motor to 110v to use SDS. This is something that I will eventually need to try. I am still waiting for my ASR Basis 2010 phono to arrive first before doing more upgrade.