tablejockey
Thanks for the input. I understand what you are saying but there is more to the story with the other VPI gear I had earlier and why I moved on from them.
It wasn't really the table's fault vs problems I had with them and my wanting to flip those units for other gear rather than pushing through and sticking with them.
In one case I decided I wanted to re-cable my system and with the other I fell in love with idea of upgrading my speakers to the newer released model. Don't we all...lol
In one case I had chose a really tough cart for a newbie to work with and the other i had a couple bad back to back carts.
In both cases I bought the gear used and/or demo and moved them for the money I had into them and applied the money to other parts of my rig..
The cool part about this hobby for me is about 80% to 85% of my system purchases are all based on money I spent back in 2008/2009. I spent a good chunk back then when things were going pretty good and since then have kept my system fresh and evolving and keeping it current.
You know buy an amp for $7000 but not by stroking a check for $7000 but by flipping a preamp for $4,200, a cart for $600 and a pair of cables for $1,400 and I end up stroking a check for $800 and get a $7000 amp. Take this example by most all of my audio purchases and you get the picture.
In both my table purchases and sales I had my beloved Bricasti M1SE that I love to fall back on and was happy dedicating my time with it as I am not sure there is anything better including vinyl.
Down the road if I am not crazy about the Rega I could certainly see myself taking this Rega P8 / Apheta 2 cart / Sutherland Due Phono / Audioquest 1000 / Audioquest Fire IC's / (2) Audience Au24se AC Cables and Audioquest Tornado AC Cable and putting all those sales together with my Pass Labs X250.8 amp and picking up a gently used $20,000 Vitus amp or such type of thing and then stroking a check of my actual money for about $800 or so as all of the above purchases are direct decedents at about 85% to 90% of what I spend back in 2008/2009.
The key is to buy stuff that most people like and is semi reasonable. Nothing real esoteric and obscure so if the need or more likely I have the urge to move to something else then I am in a pretty good shape as far as having a decent liquid-able audio position so to speak.
You can see my feedback. I have flipped a decent amount of gear but always for good fair and on the low side price and I make a point to provide the highest quality service to my fellow a-philes. I believe in that. I try to buy right so I can sell right and I have made a lot of friends doing it like this. People appreciate a good price on a great item and a pleasant and professional transaction with friendly service and great communication. When someone buys an item from me I want them to enjoy the piece and the process.
The loss of money is in the buy not the sell. You are buying it so you know what it will sell for. I try to be smart when possible and buy brands that is good stuff that I like and other people do as well. Brands like VPI, Rega, Magico, Bricasti, Pass Labs, Simaudio, Audioquest, Kubala-Sosna and that type of thing.
I always put my audio sales back into my rig and I sometimes I sell a bunch of stuff and squirrel it away in my PayPal account for larger purchases.
The other part of it is to not keep something too long where it drops in value too far.
See this is where Bricasti is amazing. If you bought a DAC from Brian back in 2013 then you just need to make sure to send it back to him every couple years for the very cheap cost of upgrades then you will have the same DAC as someone that buy it in 2018. How many other digital companies do that.
It is the only component I don't need to worry about refreshing. I can just send into Brian and for about $500 bucks and it is the most current version. Everything else has a much shorter shelf life.
Pass Labs before the .5 drops like a stone in a lake or Simaudio before the Evolution or Magico back before the switch from wood to metal and that type thing. Have to stay in front of those type of drops or the drop in value hit will hurt my ability to keep my system fresh while still maximizing my 2008/2009 spend.
All this said if I love something I am not afraid to stick with an older item either if it sounds great and I love it.
Case and point. My Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8 preamp. This was last a Stereophile Class A in 2012 and there is newer replacement current model but it is brilliant. I love it. It is better than my past ARC REF 5SE or Pass Labs XP30 so it is staying. Well for now that is..lol
Sorry for the long winded response but just wanted you and the other readers to know I am not some zillionionier stroking checks all over the place for audio gear but rather someone that loves the hobby and actually is a pretty disciplined a-phile that approaches it in a way that may look like I am spending all this money with all this gear when really I am just recycling the money I put into my rig a decade ago with thoughtful and earnest buys.
This approach gives me the freedom to move on quickly without a financial penalty because I have taking the time to look at things pretty closely and I enjoy the process and really enjoy trying the gear and because I could never afford to actually just go out buy and pay for all this gear.
Each time I get a new piece it is like being a kid at Christmas except rather than Santa Claus it is the FedEx or UPS truck driver. My daughter is funny. "Dad the FedEx is here" because she knows how psyched I am to get it.
My dumping those other VPI tables had nothing really to do with them or how they sound or digital vs analogue and more to do with my fluid approach to system building and rebuilding.
I hope this makes sense and isn't just a bunch of mumbling.
Thanks
