VPI Turntables?

[Intenso]

I think that is why my turntable was so improved by fitting a Funk Firm Achromat. It has isolated out some of that MDF.

What do you have it sitting on? I found that my Interspace sounded leaden on anything other than my Project wall shelf.

How would you describe the improvement with the Funkmat?

[Intenso]

Hi Anthony, sorry i did not answer your questions first.

Any VPI turntable from the Scout upwards are definitely work considering...

Thanks for the response Jim, very helpful.

I'm definitely in the market for a Scout now...

Tony

[Macca]

Depends on how many you are making - order 10 high precision bearings you pay a lot more than if you want 1000 of them.

This is why the old SL1200 was so cheap despite being fairly high quality in terms of fit and finish. If you are only selling a few hundred a year and you want every element to be maxed out it will get expensive real fast. Hence the 10X to 20X multiplier from cost of parts and labour to retail price. And some still go broke.

IMO there is no way to max out everything on a deck retailing for £1000 even if you sell thousands of them a year. £1000 retail is a budget deck, heavily cost cut compared to a no-compromise deck. Unpalatable truth, I know. But it doesn't mean the £1K deck will be poor sounding. It just won't be anything like the best possible.

[Haselsh1]

What do you have it sitting on? I found that my Interspace sounded leaden on anything other than my Project wall shelf.

How would you describe the improvement with the Funkmat?

Yep, leaden would be how I would describe it but the Achromat mat sharpens things up a helluva lot with lots more focus and clarity. Don't forget though that my Interspace is an early model, not the current one. Don't forget also that I have an Origin Live arm on it and that mine is sat on a Pro-Ject isolation platform.

[louie3]

Intenso... First, the gentleman who was unimpressed with his "HW-19" had an HW-19 Jr. based on his description of the table. The Jr. was, at the time, the rock bottom starting point for VPI tables. It was easily, although not cheaply, upgraded to a full HW-19. The Junior came, in the US anyway, with a couple of different Jelco-made tonearms.

The HW-19 I had replaced a Thorens TD 125 and I was happy for years. I would not reject a full HW-19 three or four if the price is right, but the Scout and its variations with motor off the plinth does sound good. However, the HW-19 offers the user the ability to change tonearms by changing an arm board, which the Scout and its various iterations to not do.

The problem I have seen with VPI is that their customer service can be a little...how should I say this? Unresponsive? I would, for instance, be very cautious about buying a used speed control, especially the very first ones. While VPI says they can repair the SDS, friends' experience says this may be misleading.

VPI is, like many turntable companies, in a mad rush to take advantage of a vinyl revival. In the process the company seems to have lost touch with some of the values that made it so successful...like good customer service for its older products. YMMV

[Haselsh1]

Yes again, the Interspace is a budget deck but not as budget as some. And of course, by the time you have added your own arm, cart and other items it no longer sounds like a stock deck. Thank the lord it doesn't require the same treatment as an SL1210.

[Spectral Morn]

Depends on how many you are making - order 10 high precision bearings you pay a lot more than if you want 1000 of them.

This is why the old SL1200 was so cheap despite being fairly high quality in terms of fit and finish. If you are only selling a few hundred a year and you want every element to be maxed out it will get expensive real fast. Hence the 10X to 20X multiplier from cost of parts and labour to retail price. And some still go broke.

IMO there is no way to max out everything on a deck retailing for £1000 even if you sell thousands of them a year. £1000 retail is a budget deck, heavily cost cut compared to a no-compromise deck. Unpalatable truth, I know. But it doesn't mean the £1K deck will be poor sounding. It just won't be anything like the best possible.

Spot On.

[Intenso]

Yes again, the Interspace is a budget deck but not as budget as some. And of course, by the time you have added your own arm, cart and other items it no longer sounds like a stock deck. Thank the lord it doesn't require the same treatment as an SL1210.

I have a very early model as well with a thick platter, rewired RB300 made a huge difference as well.

When I bought it in the 90's secondhand I demoed it against the Space deck and actually preferred the Interspace as it had a fuller bass.

The Hyperspace was however, another league altogether.

In my view the Interspace is a wonderful deck but after all these years I fancy something new and I'm going to have a look at the VPI Scouts.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

[alphaGT]

VPI now makes a Scout Jr. And also their Nomad model, which have gimbaled tonearms, that do not look impressive to say the least. As someone said, trying to cash in on vinyl resurgence. Perhaps they are nice tables in their price range? But the Scout 2 has their unipivot arm they are famous for. When I bought my Scout I was shopping for a Classic. They got great reviews upon their initial release, and come in several levels, depending on the arm and platter. If I were shopping again, I would still consider the Classic. It would seem the new Prime has taken the position of the old Super Scout Master, they no longer make. Shaped like their older HRX table I believe it was? But that table had a piano lacquer finish on it, with a super high end motor, even a hub drive upgrade was available for it. Once you get into that kind of money, VPI has much competition out there. Clearaudio, Basic, Avid, just too many to name here.

But my entire system was purchased used, except my Project SV-C, record cleaner. Better than the VPI 16.5, IMHO. If you are patient and keep your eyes on EBay and Audiogon, and a few other places, a VPI table will pop up at a reasonable used price.

The tonearm is definitely one of the nicer features of the Scout, the unipivot has a jeweled bearing and the fairly heavy mass arm moves freely, and VTF stays very stable across the record surface. The VTA adjustment is super easy to use and if you are careful you can adjust while a record is playing. The Scoutmaster had their more expensive arm with the VTA tower off to the side that makes it a breeze to adjust, but it's not something I fiddle with a lot, so as long as I can adjust it with ease, I'm happy. And I do like that I can use any interconnects, from the box that the tone arm wires terminate in. The 5 pin Din is not necessary, so I have a much greater choice of wires. And the overall performance of the 'table/motor/tonearm is such that I feel it can handle a fairly expensive cartridge. I would not hesitate to mount a Cadenza Black or a Lyra or Benz cartridge on this platform, some may think that is excessive but it really is that good.


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[Haselsh1]

IMO there is no way to max out everything on a deck retailing for £1000 even if you sell thousands of them a year. £1000 retail is a budget deck, heavily cost cut compared to a no-compromise deck. Unpalatable truth, I know. But it doesn't mean the £1K deck will be poor sounding. It just won't be anything like the best possible.

Very very true but then with that in mind is there actually any such thing as a genuine no compromise design...? Everything that is is a compromise. I guess if money were truly no limit on things then one would get a no compromise turntable within the limits of engineering which again would compromise the design. I honestly think that everything that is mainstream is a compromise. One thing of course though is that the higher up the ladder you go, the higher the margin for the dealer involved so what is the true value of the very high end...? A very high end turntable involves a very high end margin for the dealer which seriously restricts the true value of what you are buying and in that comes another compromise, the compromise of how much do I actually spend. The best way to avoid this is to buy secondhand.

The VPI Scoutmaster was to me a very good turntable and I think that VPI have let the side down with the Junior. Just looking at it shows that the engineering falls way short of the Scoutmaster. That turntable was a thing of engineering beauty. I cannot say the same for the tonearm but the deck looked bloody sweet.

If you have decided upon a VPI deck then good for you. I do not think you will be disappointed at all.