Thinking About Upgrading the VPI Tonearm Base

Yes Suteetat. Actually, Mike (VPI) said I could drop the Classic 3 tone arm base on the Classic 1 plinth. He said it's very easy to do. As you know the Classic 3 base has VTA on the fly. My thought is that the upgraded Classic 3 base will match the Classic 3 arm I already have. I guess my Q is whether the Classic 3 base will improve the sound playback as compared to the Classic 2 base, which also has VTA on the fly.

Btw, Mike mentioned that VPI will be introducing a super-duper fixed gimbel tonearm for the Classic 2. He suggested that I wait and try it out.

I've taken both apart, the classic 1 base and the classic 3 base. Both are directly bolted into the plinth, certainly the mass involved is a huge difference. The classic 3 base has a solid steel "hockey puck" with 3 holes drilled directly through it. On top of the hockey puck is base with threaded screw assembly with 2 guide rods. The black knurled knob assembly with tonearm rest screws on top of that. I should also mention there is a guide rod right next to the tonearm rest so there is only one way to screw on the upper assembly. You get a total of 15 turns before the top assembly is pretty close to coming off the middle screw assembly with guide rods. The pivot is offset from the hockey puck base, so the same 3 holes from the classic one base will not work, there will have to drill 3 new holes to get the same spindle to pivot distance and geometry. I guess if they don't want to drill and tap 3 new holes, they will have to include another base which will compensate for the offset. The holes in the plinth are tapped, so the Allen screws go directly into the plinth. With the upper assembly all the way down, knurled knob at zero, the tone arm is basically close to horizontal with most cartridges. The you have 15 turns, 100 units per turn, so 1500 units for VTA adjust.
I don't know about better sound quality, there is certainly a lot more mass, and the VTA adjust is very convenient. I have all the offsets computed for digital scale, MINTLP, 180 gram record, etc, as I posted in Acterseus post. So from a VTA standpoint it is super convenient. Also fun to play with on the fly to hear VTA differences.

FYI, link to the thread where I listed the VTA offsets for digital scale, MINTLP, 180 gram records, etc.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1366675416&openfrom&13&4#13

I have my Classic on a 3-inch maple butcher's block, which in turn rests on four Mapleshade Isoblocks. I never listened to the table without the block, but I first used it when I had a Scout, and the difference was profound with and without the block. I highly recommend it.

I would save my money if I were you. I went from the 9 to 10.5i and the differences if any were hardly recognizable. On the other hand, VPI has a new arm that is actually 3D printed. If you want to upgrade, go there.