Has VPI quit supporting the HW series turntable ?

Whew! Thanks Pmotz. My blood pressure just went down 50 points.

Thanks for your help. I found it hard to buy into the idea. It originated with a dealer trying to sell me a new table.

The word from Mike at VPI service" We are no longer manufacturing the HW-19 series turntable ". Who is going to pick up the customer base? Who will buy from a company that drops its customers without so much as a @!&**> ^%&%$ !!

Just because they they decide to no longer manufacture the HW-19 series does not mean that they will no longer service them. I doubt very much that Harry Weisfeld would not want to service these turntables of which I imagine there are many thousands out in service. My guess is that it may not make sense to to keep selling the HW series now that they have the Scout and Aries which are priced at a similar price point. BTW,I used to own an HW19MK1V and it was a fine table for the money.

I bought a HW-19 jr about 2 yrs ago with the thinking that I would upgrade at a latter date. So when I took my table in last month to get a new cart(broke my BPS stylus) I called beforhand to talk about going to the MK IV, my dealer said the HW 19 series was being discontiued and that the Scout is a better table over the MK IV, which I could get for $1000. w/ trade in of my jr and he would put my new cart (Benz Ace L) on the scout. To be frank I was kinda pissed that what I thought would be a 1st rate near high end table to last a lifetime is now, to some extent, just the latest to end up on the scrap heap. Thats not to say that the MK IV is crap, nor is my dealer, who has provided excellent service and whose opinion I trust, is just looking to make a sale. In truth, I HAVE been thinking of getting the Scout in the near future but I see VPI now has the Scoutmaster, an improved version of the orginal model. If I get the Scoutmaster, does this mean I am offically "in the club" of always looking for the next best in sound and never finished building a system?
Jon