VPI motor - upgrade to 300 rpm?

Rubber belt alternatives - debatable?
From my experiments so far, using nylon and silk thread versus rubber belts (vpi new grey + translucent original belts), it appears that rubber has a number of good sides, that are only with difficulty improved by the thread solutions. Two nice sides with rubber is fairly robust performance regardless of platter - pulley distance (within limits, not very demanding of setup), and a fair degree of "body" and overall tonality to the music. Even if thread solutions are a step up, if set up right. Silk thread sounds a tiny bit better, I think, compared to nylon, but may be a bit more troublesome also. When things are right they sound better than belts, but they have to be tensioned "just right", and with the VPI Samas arrangement this can be a bother to adjust manually from time to time (more often than with the rubber belt). Possibly the ideal arrangement would have a light spring arrangement pushing the Samas away from the platter to "auto-tension" the thread.

As others on A-gone and elsewhere have noted, this concerns the right balance between stiffness and elasticity, transfer and isolation. We want motion going one way, but no audio noise, and nothing travelling back either.

The more the platter is able to overcome motor and pulley and string weaknesses (noise, pitch variance, statics) by its own momentum, the better. The ideal self-moving platter hasn't been invented. VPI currently offers a very expensive "hrx super platter" upgrade, this is probably a great benefit, but I have gone through three VPI platter upgrades already, and guess my current Black knight platter should do the job fair enough for awhile, there is more benefit to be had by motor tuning and drive adjustment. A direct drive for HW-19 is not available, but a good thread solution is said to be a step up in the same direction.

I am a bit confused by looking at the Hurst and Elusivedisc web pages. From the latter it appears that VPI is upgrading towards the lower rpm hurst motors, and that the 250 rpm motor is currently the best regarding low noise, but perhaps it cant be done with the hw-19

Unfortunately this is an area outside my knowledge base. I can only recommend doing what you're doing - talking to VPI and maybe searching the web to see what other VPI enthusiasts have done.

Mike at VPI has mailed that if I am able to extend the plinth hole for the pulley, he can ship the 300 rpm motor and new pulley. The hole for the 600 rpm motor is ca 35 millimeter, the pulley is 22. A half rpm motor means a doubling of pulley diameter, so it will need to be 55 to 60 mm including adjustment space. I am searching for ways to do this mechanical adjustment.

Hello O_holter,
Seems to still have interest, and are persuing the use of the 300rpm Motor.

If it is permissible by the mods, I would like if you could further explain what it is you are not liking with your sound? Is it noise, or vibration from the Motor you're hearing-feeling? Which SAMA is this you have, the newer one, or the older one with round case?

I see you mention PRAT? What other sonic dislikes are you noting? What are you using as a Plinth Suspension? The Pucks, or Springs?

Are you still using the stock Rubber Feet on the Wood Base?

These are two areas, where the chageout to a cone foot for the Wood Base, and using something like Herbies Iso Cups-Balls, or Tenderfeet for a plinth suspension should net you some good, not subtle sonic gains.

As I believe I mentioned earlier in this thread, I too am running a modded HW-19 with newer version SAMA, SDS, 16 lb MK-IV Lead Filled Black Acrylic Platter. My custom HW-19 does not have a seperate Armboard, but uses a custom made solid one piece 1.00" thick Acrylic Plinth secured to the Steel Sub Chassis Plate.

I now use the Herbies Extra Firm Tall Tenderfeet to replace the Sorbo Puck Suspension. I use the short soft Tenderfeet to replace the stock rubber feet on the SAMA, and use Brass Audiopoint Cone Feet to replace the stock Rubber Feet on the Wood Base.

I cannot imagine my Table being any quieter than what it currently is, it is totally dead quiet in operation.

Dislike of sound can maybe be sourced to other components in your chain? Your sound will only sound as good as its weakest link. Mark

Mark, sorry for not answering. I am ordering a 300 rpm motor and a new pulley from vpi, with the lower groove 10 percent larger than the upper groove, for a silk string. The reason I do this is, mainly, slight speed or pitch variations. For some reason, this problem comes and goes a bit, it is actually less now (having changed back to a clear belt, older type). The player rests on a complex arrangement - Black magic cones, Bright Star sandbox (split top, for the Samas), and even three small bike tyres under the sandbox (the air actually helps). Still using the springs, perhaps Tenderfeet would be better. As for the rest of the chain, it should be good enough (Titan i p-up, Sme V arm, Aesthetix Io preamp, Krell 600 amp, Dynaudio consequence speakers).