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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
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.
brf
1,715 posts
 

The VPI 3D tonearm is a one-piece structure, from its head shell to its counterweight stub and is made from an epoxy-plastic that is both lightweight and rigid.

I would assume that the arm will be costly, as it takes 24 hours to print one arm wand.

With respect to the TT direct drive motor, I heard that it is designed for military submarine application where smooth and quiet running motors are an absolute necessity.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
With respect to the TT direct drive motor, I heard that it is designed for military submarine application where smooth and quiet running motors are an absolute necessity.
Heh... sounds like Harry hired Tom Clancy to write some ad copy.

The last company that sold the Navy's submarine-quieting technology publically was Toshiba. It cost the CEO and several other execs their jobs and the company forfeited a gazillion dollars in fines and lost sales. The company I worked for cancelled nearly a million dollars in Toshiba contracts, and we were a minor customer.

I doubt any company supplying the Navy would repeat that infamous goof to sell a handful of motors to a few vinyl nuts. Still, it's a great sales pitch!
myles_b_astor's avatar
myles_b_astor
134 posts
 
Doug I think it's better said that the motor is based on a Navy design. With today's cost cutting (just as what happened at the end of Star Wars), many military hardware manufacturers are looking for other civilian uses for their technology.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
End of Star Wars? As I recall, they burned some outdated military hardware on a bonfire so the Ewoks could stage a dance party. ;-)

Of course you have a point, Myles. Thanks to Star Wars, my GPS works pretty well, not to mention Google satellite view and a zillion other things. Just funnin'...
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