Typical upgrade path from VPI?

VPI's do not lack mid-bass, IME. I used to have an Aries 2 for about 3 years in my system and really liked it. I ran it with the JMW 9 and later an SME IV, both tonearms set up with a Benz Micro Reference cartridge. Mid-bass was quite tuneful and satisfying with either tonearm. Upgrading to another table, arm, and cartridge combo brought a much quieter background and more image focus and detail, but the mid-bass has not been dramatically different.

One way to improve mid-bass, perhaps, is to tweak the isolation under the table. I have a solid mass rack from Billy Bags (I like how it looks). I recently added a Grand Prix Monaco stand with Apex footers under my turntable and I noticed a significant improvement in the mid-bass. That was an eye opener, as I thought the sound was already suberb before the Grand Prix stand. The mid-bass is where I really noticed the difference.

Also, is your subwoofer properly integrated with your main speakers? Perhaps try auditioning your speakers without the subwoofer and see if the mid and low bass are integrated better.

Bottom line is I wouldn't give up on the VPI if the problem is mid-bass. I think the problem is elsewhere.

Madfloyd,
Glad you're staring to adjust things yourself. It will take practice but eventually you'll get much better results that way because you'll be willing to put in the time. It's kind of like washing your car. No one else will do it as thoroughly as you will. If you want it done right, do it yourself. In this case there's a learning curve though. I said this, sort of, in your other thread accidently but it is absolutely ridiculous for anyone to say that a VPI table can't play this or that kind of music well or don't put an expensive cartridge on a VPI. You can play or do anything you want to with a VPI. You can also get wonderful results. Buy whatever table you want but don't take the opinion of every nay sayer out there as fact. It's mostly a matter of preference. Set up is everything. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

I'd bet you have a sub speaker integration problem.I would vary my crossover points.Probably up.No higher than 60 Hz if you only have one sub.Higher if you have two.I own several subs they all collect dust now.I never got them to give as good base as i could get with full range speakers.
That vpi is a good deck.You have a good cart.Unless something is broke id say check the subs or maybe you don't like(taste) the mix of components you have.
My third idea is could it be your room?Your room is half your sound.

Hi Redtop.

I don't use a sub. My room is soundproofed and retains bass energy. My current speakers are Aerial Model 9s - a bad match as these are bass heavy speakers that overload the room. So when playing any other source besides my turntable, I get way too much bass (working on that problem - auditioning other speakers etc). So I know that problem is isolated to the TT somehow (I've swapped amps, preamp etc).

I'll have my Rhea back tomorrow as well as a new cartridge to try out. I've pretty convinced that it's not the actual turntable, but the cartridge. We'll soon see.

Thanks.

Madfloyd, I think that you just nailed the problem with you latest responce. If your speakers are overloading the room in the deep bass, then I bet that your are getting a bunch of mid bass suck outs due to various node multibles. These suck outs can be 15-25db deep and are caused by the dimensions of the room and its effect on the nodes.
I can speak from experience because I have sub woofers and had room node peaks at 80,160 cycles and a 18db suck out at 40hz.I installed 8 basstraps in my room and that not only brought the suck out up,but brought the peaks down.
You say that your room is soundproofed, but that is a lot different than treated acousticaly. I would bet that a whole lot of bass traps like the panels from RealTraps would cure 95% of your problem. Without an acousticaly treated room it is useless to audition any other speakers in that room.IMO if the Ariel 9s are loading up the room, the ones that you are considering would be worse.Not only that, without a treated room you cannot know what any component of your system is capable of.
I would suggest that you either borrow a Real Time Analyzer, or find someone that has one and will help you with it, and take a sound profile of your room and I think that you will be surprised at what you see.
Like others have said on this thread, I have a VPI Scout and I get all of the low and mid bass that I need now, but not before I treated the room.
Good Luck
Carter