VPI Direct Drive Turntable

HW says it is a $4000 part, is that really the price from ThinGap?

I recall reading on one of the audio web blogs that Mathew Weisfeld is taking on a higher profile VPI management role and Mr. W is giving MW breathing room. Wish I could recall where I read this.

I'm glad to read Dnath's post that the Traveler concept is taking root. I also recall that MW is the motivating force behind the Traveler. Kudos to MW.

The Weisfeld family has gone through some tough times. I wish them the best. And I celebrate their innovation and success.

Flieb,If I may add , In the early days of VPI, pre any table manufacturing I remember their bricks and metal platforms for resonate control being advertised ,the VPI bricks were designed to put on top of amplifiers , tuners , preamps ect.
Magazine reviews back then of direct drive tables would bolster the rating by a added star or scale only if the dd table under review was sitting on one of VPIs platform.
Mitch Cotter the man of resonate control for dd tables and probably the most successful back then with his B1 and B2.
On the west coast in California back in the 1980s I clearly remember listening to a shocking expensive table ,arm and mc cartridge sitting in a Mitch Cotter platform / plinth , Technics SP10 MK 3 and low and behold Halcro a Fidelity Research FR 66, obviously a west coast thing.

VPIs business model is repeat business by constant upgrade path, if anyone else does this in the table manufacturing business they copied VPI.
Keep them coming back for more stuff.

And finally for anyone here that have spent $30,000.00 or more on a single component,,,, "A" All I ask "hopefully " for it to live up to every expectation in the long run and "B" to be built to the very highest of standards through out...NO MDF with a plate of aluminum glued to it,...

In_shore, Who would argue with your points A and B? Not I. But I would argue that there is nothing at all wrong, a priori, with using MDF (or HDF?) in a sandwich with alu, in order to obtain a result that is superior to either material used alone. That's called synergy; it can be achieved in this case with the CLD effect. Adona make shelves using granite and MDF bonded together. I don't like either material alone, and I was initially put off by the idea of even using them together, but in fact Adona shelves actually perform very well. CLD in principle can work. Unless you know that alu/MDF sounds bad, I don't know how you can condemn it out of hand.

I've stayed out of this dog fight because I have no intention of dipping a toe into "$30,000 turntable waters" under any circumstances -- period. Nor am I interested in whether MDF/Aluminum is better or worse than steel reinforced poured concrete plinths. Could care less.

Having said that, I would like to put out there a question which focuses on the value proposition of expensive vinyl upgrades. Let's just stipulate that the $30,000 VPI DD TT sounds better (whatever that means) than the "standard" $6,000 Classic 3 TT (or my tricked out "regular" Classic TT with a Classic 3 tonearm and base upgrade).

My Q is -- Lewm do you surmise that one could achieve a better vinyl performance value investment by simply buying a better cartridge? Or perhaps, a better RCM (e.g., ultrasonic)? Heck, even better quality vinyl recordings?? Of course I assume that one already has a "very good" quality TT like the Classic 3 or a tricked out regular Classic like mine.

For example, I've been keeping an eye open for a preowned Lyra Skala (sp?, or Scala), which is the next grade up from my Kleos. I assume the Skala sounds better than the Kleos, but it also retails for $1,000 more. Is it worth the extra cash? Dunno?? Any thoughts?

I also like the idea of a plug and use ultrasonic RCM which cleans and dries the record with the push of a button. No brushes, vacumes and flipping records. Too much like work.

Thanks. Sorry for the interruption.