VPI Classic---Denon 103 won't fit on arm??

It seems the cat is out of the bag... VPI tonearms will now have a stainless steel arm wand. My 10.5i seems to be aluminum. I wonder what the sonic difference is.

UPDATE: I've changed my order with Music Direct, I'm no longer doing the special order thing, partially because it could take up to 6 weeks and I'm too impatient, but primarily because my research indicates that the Denon 103R indeed may not be the best match for the JMW 10.5i arm because of compliance etc. So I'm getting a regular in-stock Classic from their warehouse, and I'm trading in my dead Dynavector 17D3 (the suspension died after only 1 year!) for *another* brand new 17D3 that they will mount for me, and hoping *that* one doesn't meet a similar fate. It's such a great cartridge I'm willing to roll the dice.

Now I need to figure out what tonearm cables to buy for this baby. Think I'll start a new thread...

I think you've made a wise decision. While you've got your wallet out... I would get a good digital stylus tracking force gauge and a mint lp protractor so you can be confident, should the new 17D3 die in a year, that its demise was not due to poor mounting/alignment.

Cheers.

Tom

I too feel this was wise also. An earlier post I wrote never made it here, but it mentioned that it just didn't make sense to me, to alter stock S-P Distance for one Cartridge, that you may've soon moved beyond in the future.

The Dyna should work fine. Then again, you may change your mind, after you sleep on things for a bit? Best of luck, Mark

Tom, thanks for the recommendations---I do own a decent digital stylus force gauge, and as for cartridge alignment aids, I have a Geo-disk and the Hi-Fi News LP paper protractor, but I'll look into the mint lp protractor if that is superior to either of those.

I did give some thought to getting a Sumiko Blackbird cartridge (seems to be a popular cart for the Classic and VPI tables in general), but after reading all the comments I could find about it in audiogon and audio asylum etc., I came away with the impression that's it's a somewhat polarizing and "controversial" cartridge, i.e. there seems to be a more positive general consensus among audiophiles concerning the Dynavector carts. Plus I already had the 17D3 on my Rega P25 so I'm familiar with it and really enjoyed it.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to getting this VPI Classic, there seems to be quite the positive buzz being generated out there by people who've bought it. Sounds like an extraordinary turntable---we shall see...