Bill, I enjoyed the thread as well. I've owned my own HW-19 for a good 11 years, and have no regrets for the money I spent, it's been a great ride. I thank Harry, and company for making this fine Table, and they have backed it all these years with good help, and suggestions.
One beauty of the HW-19, is that although the Table is no longer made, there are literal thousands of them still in fine operation, and just like you, and I, there are others here who still tinker with these, with upgrades, and mods, so once you acquire any new, or newer, or different parts, the no longer needed parts aren't exactly a throw away in the garbage can item.
I have never had a problem here, selling the no longer needed parts from my Table, everything from Platters, Clamps, and even the original Jr. Plinth just recently.
Every single part from the HW-19 is valuable to somebody out there, and I believe the demand will increase over time, as VPI provides less, and less parts for these fine Tables.
I believe comments such as the HW-19 being darker, or warmer than this, or that Turntable will be hard to accurately determine, due to no two set-ups being identical. Some have said, the new Super Platter is one of Harry's finest accomplishments to compliment his Turntables. I have no doubts this Platter (and Bearing Design) would take virtually all VPI Tables, past, or present, that use a lesser Platter to a whole new better level of performance.
I could probably very easily sell my mint MK-IV Platter, that doesn't have a microscopic mark on it anywhere for $500-$550 right now, and this sale would offset the cost of new Super Platter.
I believe I can be contacted privately through this site. If you would like to see some pics of what I have done to my own HW-19, drop me a line, I'll gladly send some pics if interested. A few, even my buddies like Doug Deacon have claimed mine is one of the nicest they've seen. Mark