VPI Scout and Scoutmaster owners.

Hi Gregory Earl and Jamnperry, No dought in my mind about the Valhalla wire.I just found out about the new arm and wire upgrades afew weeks ago and jumped right on the new arm.Even having your stock arm and junction box rewired for 200 bucks...to me,sounds like a stupid good upgrade...Good Listening

Jamnperry, thanks for the insightful comments about the effects of anti-skate. When I get home from the holidays I'm going to tweak a bit, listen more closely and see if I can hear the changes you described.

i had a long and detailed discussion with vpi about the upgrades. it was put to me that the vahlhalla wire was only a benefit if a) you like the nordost presentation, b) that the full benefits came only with a full loom and that the nordost stuff didn't always like being mixed and matched.
the anti skate, i was also told was a marketing thing, because people had asked for it, and it's good business practice to give customers what they want (different from what they need!)
the individual did however go on to say that the strucutral changes to the arm did give real benefits. the individual told me he actually prefered the original wire and no anti skate, and it that it is possible to order the arm in this configuration. one imagines that this would also be at reduced cost minus the nordost branding premium. this is certainly what i am intending to do, then again having tried nordost, i have found that i'm not keen on their house sound and so have no wish to have their full wiring loom.

Interesting discussion here. I'm leaning towards getting a Scoutmaster w/ the Sig arm right now, and the price difference buying new seems much more of a no brainer, but still, the money can go towards a better cart or SDS which may be even more beneficial. I do not mind the Nordost house sound. My cables don't really match well with Nordost cables or any cables for that matter though. I have no doubts that the Nordost wire will have more resolution than the original wire. But of course it might also bring upon a more analytical sound. It'll be interesting to hear of comparisons.

Thanks guys for your input...Yes ,mixing cable brands in a system can turn into real problems for you. Once my new sig. arm arrives and I log acouple of hundred hours on,I will see if that is enough burn in time or I may find out along the way that its only halfway...Once all is settled in I will check out Nordost new interconnects and speaker wire line. The Baldur, Heimdall ,Frey and Tyr...I will borrow the cables from a dealer to scrutinize in my system. Ether way I looking forward to it. It could very well turn into, time well wasted...But then again...