VPI HR-X vs SME 20

this has become a disturbing thread. Jonathan is my good friend, i have had some very positive communications with Rufus, VPI has taken great care of me personally and earned a great reputation for customer care, and Jonathan's friend with the VPI HR-X is also a friend of mine and long time VPI owner.

and yet it has become personal and nasty.

Jonmatd, assuming you represent VPI, your nasty comments toward Jonathan will not help VPI's reputation. whether Jonathan is right or wrong your approach is inappropriate. i know about this problem but not in the detail that Jonathan does. Jonathan was wrong to generalize about our friend's problem with his HR-X without more information......but i personally know he had nothing to gain by it....he just likes SME. at one point he considered becoming an SME dealer but never did.

since the person with the problem is not availible i strongly suggest that we roll up this thread and put it to bed before any more dirt is thrown.

is VPI perfect? no. do they care? of course. would it be better if they were availible 5 days a week instead of 3? yes. did some HR-X tt's get sold with problems? it appears, yes. is our friend's HR-X fixed? not yet. is VPI doing what it can to fix the problem? probably.

everyone needs to give one another the benefit of the doubt until all the facts are in.

let's all go enjoy our Saturday.

Jonmatd: This customer, who is a personal friend of mine, has called and written VPI countless times, upon my suggestions, and has had

little satisfaction. He feels it is almost impossible to reach you guys with the limited hours that you provide (Tuesday through

Thursday). He felt he bought what was, supposedly, the "top of the line", "best there is" VPI product and within one month, there is a

new "top of the line", "best there is" VPI product in the HR-X. Great customer service and loyalty, in this case, questionable.

Now I make this statement on this one case. In the past I have heard many customers state, that once they can actually speak with

someone, they receive full satisfaction. For that VPI is to be commended. Phone service, maybe not.

Many problems do not show up until many hours of use and that is quite understandable. Admitting this, is nothing to be embarrased about

and certainly an explanation, not an excuse, can easily eleviate customer insecurities.

Have you ever heard the expression "Don't shoot the messenger"? I am not stating that VPI is a bad company or makes bad turntables and

tonearms. All I said was that "I would go for the SME 20. It is a more finished product. The VPI HRX is having all sorts of problems.

The SME 20 is reliable, ready for market and marvelous." Maybe in hind sight I was a bit vague and the word "all" is improper, but I

told the truth. You are attacking me in a childish manner for sharing information that has already been publicized. No secrets here.

Customers who purchased early, trusted that everything was fine. Maybe this is isolated to just a few units, maybe more than a few, but

they should be handled with the highest priority. A company is truly judged by the way they handle problems. Great customer service is

done after the sale.

These "real" problems are yours (admitted to him by your company,) not his and maybe you should, humbly, show a bit of professionalism

and refrain from the insulting remarks. You certainly have a lot more to lose than he or I.

Also, most of your post sounds like an advertisement in Stereophile.

BTW, Do you want to also explain the issue concerning the tonearm?

Rufus: Please, lets you and I take this off line and deal with our concerns via phone. I am going to ask our mutual friend for your phone number and I will call you. First Root Beer is on me!

Mike, I had a great Saturday....I saw "Oklahoma"!!! Great idea and great show.

Boy, another interesting post. Anyway, since I have had no personal experience with this particular situation, I cannot add anything. However, I am VERY interested in this new VPI table. So, Rufus, Jonmatd,
Mikelavigne please keep me posted via e-mail or this thread.

I just love a happy ending!

Many thanks all for the input it was heated discussion, think I will take chance with new HR-X, as I sad before SME20 is very good but really is not as exiting as my old LP12, I was impress with great control from top to bottom and specially bottom end. I have also order new Aesthetix Signature to go with HR-X/ DV XX2 and considering now what interconnects to use, my all other interconnects are Valhalla's so it would make sense to go with the same.
I will let you know more about VPI when I get it here in Oz.
Any recommendation on support for HR-X? my walls are double brick so maybe wall mounted shelf?
All the best,
Andrew