Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?
Henry (Halcro) mentions the $30,000-VPI DD turntable, which seems to have come and perhaps gone from the market, like a will o' the wisp. I am guessing that VPI will still build one for a buyer, but they have certainly stopped flogging it, preferring instead to hammer away at the middle of the market in terms of cost, with their latest belt drives. Maybe they are selling them to wealthy Asians and Russian oligarchs. Has anyone here actually seen the VPI DD, and if so, have you listened to it in a good system? Better yet, have you been able to compare it to one of our beloved vintage DD turntables? Henry implies that a well done TT101 would be on an equal footing with the VPI, which made me wonder. Another such item is the Monaco Grand Prix. |
Have had several of them - its a very nice machine - A thingap motor run by a industrial servo controller placed inside the motor unit. The ones I've had have all been slightly fast and adjustment is only possible via software. The motor it self looks very similar to the one pictured next to the TG231X specs in this link http://www.thingap.com/standard-products/ Both Platter and Bearing on the VPI are VERY substantial, the bearing it self is the standard VPI Inverted bearing. Good Listening Peter |
Thanks, Peter, but I notice you gracefully declined to say how the VPI compares to one of your restored DP100 or DP80 Denons. I read the S'phile review of the VPI by Fremer. He publishes real data these days on speed stability. I also recall that the DP80 owners manual included a graph showing speed vs time for the DP80, but not the max and min variations that contribute to the average speed curve. I've wondered how the DP80 and of course some others would look on Fremer's instruments. (Is he just using a Feickert computer program, or what?) |
The VPI is a very substantial table, It would not be fair for me to state how it compares to the ones I make - obviously I'm biased :-) I'd state its comparable to the DP80 http://pbnaudio.com/audio-turntables/vintage-direct-professional/dp80 and the DP7 http://pbnaudio.com/audio-turntables/groovemaster-vintage-direct/pbn-dp7 As far as the DN308 - IMO there is nothing that compares to it :-) http://pbnaudio.com/audio-turntables/vintage-direct-professional/dn308 Good Listening Peter |
