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VPI is Introducing a high-end Direct Drive Table

A large group of audiophiles from the NYC area were invited to the VPI offices on Saturday for a fun day of music, learning, food and conversation. Very nice of them.

Harry Weisfeld was excited to introduce two new products still in prototype form: the first is high-end direct drive turntable that is going to be their top product - he was particularly proud of the motor, designed for this purpose and apparently sourced from a military equipment manufacturer. In its current prototype form the turntable resembles a Classic 3. Harry was very enthusiastic about the absolute speed control that was better than any belt drive table. His words.


The second is a new composite arm-wand manufactured on-site using a $350,000 object printer. It is made of hundreds/thousands of layers of laser cured material and resembles their current arm-wands except for the black material and the complex shape changes made to further reduce vibration transmission. I listened to the combination of the new table and arm-wand for about an hour and was thrilled by the relaxing musicality produced.

I understand that these new products will be at shows soon - still in prototype form.

Surprisingly, there was a large display of classic amplifiers, reel-to-reel tape machines, turntables, tonearms and more. One that caught my eye was a mint direct drive JVC TT-101 turntable (very much like mine). It was the target/inspiration for the new table - I would love to compare the two, but that wasn't possible. Maybe at my house some day.

It was great to see that VPI is so committed to moving the state of the art forward using both the latest technologies and thinking and the best of the past.
aigenga
french_fries
815 posts
 
VPI is a great company and i am sure there are many folks out there with a TNT, probably somewhat modified as well, as are older and newer models, all which have gotten good press and satisfied customers. but i have to agree somewhat that, with a good platter and bearing, and a good stand-alone motor(s) and/or flywheels, that the speed issue (oh, also the SDS was supposed to cure any deviations...?) is, in my mind, splitting hairs. lowering the noise floor further might still be an issue to pursue, as well as resonances. but the Aries-I with the JMW-10/12 arm went a long way towards playing records at an extremely high level, and i would imagine a TNT-6 with a super-platter would seal the deal for all but the fussiest people (going for a VPI product that is). i don't imagine belt-vs-direct is going to get "solved" one way or the other for a very long time.
all it takes is a warped record to ruin your day anyway.
captain_winters
133 posts
 
It sounds like the composite arm is a unipivot, is it the same design as the JWM unipivot? It would be great if it was a direct drop in with the current VPI tables, other than the Traveler. Has anyone received any information from VPI or those that saw the arm, does it look like the same design, with different composite material?
brf
1,715 posts
 
Captain_winters, the new 3D arm will be a drop in replacement for all Classic series arms. I got this info directly from VPI. No idea when the arm will be commercially available.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,478 posts
 
Yes - The new arm is a drop in for the JMW unipivot. I spoke to Harry about it. The arm is very light, and has no resonance points. I have one on order and their new ceramic platter. I'll post my findings when I get the stuff.
captain_winters
133 posts
 
Stringreen,
Very good, I presume the arm is using similar metal counterweight. I would guess the uni-pivot point which is steel on the current JWM would also remain steel. Interesting the arm is much lighter since that will affect resonance frequencies. Please let us know when you can release the pricing for the new arm.
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