I want to try a different tonearm on my classic

Probably the easiest change would be a Rega arm, probably the RB1000 or RB700. The JMW arms were designed to be drop in replacements for Rega arms, so I would imagine that would work the other way too. It's something I've considered too, as it would move you from a unipivot to a gimbal bearing tonearm.

Of course this would probably be a lateral move in the long run, as it may make some improvements while also offering it's own limitations or problems.
Different technology = different positive and negative attributes.

At least that's what I think, which is why I haven't made any actions on my thoughts.

Now if you want to go outside the box, and look at a Tri-Planar or Graham, I think you'd need to modify your VPI table to fit the new arm. That's too much effort for me.

thanks for the thoughts jmcgrogan and elizabeth. After some furthur research, I have decided it would be too much effort to modifiy my table to accept another arm. I might just continue to save my dollars for a new table at a later date.

A Rega arm will not just drop in the VPI Classic. The Classic arm is an 10.5 inch arm. If you really want to use another brand arm and don't want to modify the table yourself I believe VPI can do it for you. Tri-Planar or a Reed 10.5" would be the easiest. A Graham will not work without allot of modification due to where the tonearm cable exits the arm and the fact that it exits at 90 degrees. The plinth of the Classic is too thick for the Graham's tonearm cable to clear the bottom.

thanks for the insight Sarcher. I will look into that.