VPI Classic hum

Bifwynne - Thanks much for your input and suggestions. Give me 2-3 days to detail my history with the Classic since I got it last year. And also to try out some of your suggestions and my own procedures.

My Classic with steel tonearm tube sounds great with the Maestro.

Man, with the Clearadio and Rega I've owned, I never had to take this much trouble!
cheers

I hear ya! My goodness, I NEVER had anywhere this much grief with my old Thorens. I think the Classic is querky because of the uni-pivot arm. Everytime you mess with VTF, you screw up up azimuth. VTA is just trial and error, but at least we can adjust it with the star wheel. I believe that VTA in the Rega arm is a pain to adjust -- at least in the RB 301 I used to own.

As I wrap up my business with Mike at VPI, I will suggest that the company figure out a better way to adjust the arm without all the grief.

I hope it's all worth the effort when we're done.

Please let us know how you make out. I'll post something once I set up the Classic 3 arm.

Cheers to you.

Hi Bassraptor, are you ready to report on how're making out with the Classic/Maestro combo? I'm waiting for VPI to send me a Classic 3 arm, hoping that will calm down my bass resonance problem.

Hi, Bifwynne ... as of now, I'm still getting that hum, although, again, in the lead-in and quiet parts.

My dealer says none of his customers who have got the Classic report any such issue. Anyway, he's offered the Aries 3 to me for the weekend, and I'll be taking it home to hear how it behaves in my place. He's also got a new batch of Classics coming in soon, says I can try one if I want to.

Let's see how it goes with the Aries first, so I'll know if it's an issue specific to my Classic or overall set-up.

I've so far not encountered any tonearm resonance with the Maestro.

Bassraptor, thanks for the update. Did you try the suggestions I made on the 23rd, namely:

"Do you get the hum with the stylus sitting on the record, but with the motor turned off? I suspect that the answer is no. Then if you start the motor, I assume that the hum starts up. If I'm on target so far, what happens if you touch the ground wire to the tone arm base. Does the hum go away? If not, what is your ground wire connected to? If the pre, any possibility of a ground loop? Just for fun, if you can extend the ground wire to touch a water or gas pipe, you might get a clean and solid ground that will eliminate the hum."

The suggestions should take all of 10 minutes to try out. If the problem is, as I suspect, related to the motor and its interaction with the stainless steel tube, maybe the grounding ideas will help.

BTW, it's very nice of your dealer to let you try out another Classic TT this weekend. I suggest that you try out a Classic 1 with the stock arm, which as I mentioned above is an aluminum/stainless steel combo. If my suggestions above don't work, try twitching out your stainless steel arm with the Maestro already mounted onto the test TT. If the hum persists, I think that's credible evidence that your motor is ok. Next, I would mount the Maestro on the stock Classic 1 arm that comes with the test TT. If the hum disappears, then I think you have localized the problem to the stainless steel arm. If the hum still persists, maybe your Maestro is defective or the Maestro/Classic is simply not a good combo.

As I mentioned above, Mike from VPI is exchanging my Classic 1 stock arm for a Classic 3 stainless steel arm. In light of what you said on the 26th that you don't hear the bass resonance/ringing that I seem to have, then that's a good indication that the stainless steel arm is better suited for the Maestro. I just hope I don't wind up fixing the bass resonance problem, while adding a hum problem.

Please report back on how you make out. Good luck.