Scout drive upgrade

A couple of things... The SDS will do nothing for you if your turntable speed is not stable. In other words, there are two flavors to the problem - stable speed but not at 33 1/3 and unstable speed. The SDS will only solve problem number one.

Second, as far as I know, the rim drive doesn't work with the Scout. You need a Scoutmaster, HR-X, or TNT-6 to use the rim drive.

I've found that speed instability is most likely caused on the Scout by a worn belt. Try replacing it. Other than that, make sure the table is level and the platter bearing is lubricated with white lithium grease.

Cheers.

Tom

The Teres rim drive works well on the Scout and has its own motor controller so you wouldn't need an SDS. The Teres provides very stable speed.

My entry level was the Scout. Right out of the box, I found it very bland but after lots of tweeking, it was excellent. Cloud 10 isolation platform, Mint protactor set up protractor, Ortofon P windfield Cart, Synergistic research tricon interconnect. It was kick ass but took a lot of $ to get there

Hi Paul, I have a VPI Scout with the Super Platter and SDS system and the 300 rpm motor . The tt and motor assembly sit on a sand box containing about 80 lbs. of sand. Once set, I notice no speed instability at all. It is on a dedicated 20 amp circuit for power and the voltage at the wall outlet runs 122-124 volts.
When I got the Super Platter Harry sent with it a new belt that was different from the one that came originally with the Scout.
Regards,
Carter

I should clarify one thing I said in my earlier post in regard to the statement "The SDS will do nothing for you if your turntable speed is not stable.". The SDS can help with stability by providing a clean, stable source of power to the motor.

But, in my experience, speed stability problems have usually been unrelated to power delivery. But there are certainly places in the U.S. and the rest of the world that have less-than-stellar power delivery. The SDS should provide improved stability in those places. I live in Chicago, which is generally known to have very good power delivery. So it's not really an issue for me. The SDS is still valuable as a means of getting exact 33 1/3 speed.

Cheers.