2. analog
  3. 131646-1659

What direction is VPI headed?

First let me state that I own a VPI Prime w/perifial ring, SDS, and a couple extra arm wands so I have invested some $ overall, this being my third VPI table, with that said I am a happy VPI customer but here recently have taken a few notes on their constantly coming up with the next iteration of what ever is moving well and I do believe the Prime is one of those. When they came out with the Prime Signature it was hard not to sell and replace with it but I didn't now the Prime Signature Rosewood is gorgeous but at $6,800.00, now when you get to that cost level I started looking used and have seen the prices dropping ridiculously low on a couple of HRX setups with all the extras for  a lot less than that and they still aren't moving. I know there are those that speak of VPIs marketing from time to time but what is going on.
tooblue
slaw's avatar
slaw
5,785 posts
 
"The judgement re: the appropriateness of such inclusion is for the reader to discern"

Sadly, you failed to recall the initial inclusion of Mat’s mother’s death as... (his own).

There-in-lies the issue. You seem to want to make me the demon..

The written word is my winning defense. "Remember..MAT was the intiator".

"@turntablemat" "at the end of 2011 when my mom died..." 10/02/2017"

Post removed 
avanti1960
225 posts
 
wow.  
mat is doing a great job at trying to manage the product line and make his dealers and customers happy.  his explanation and openness was refreshing and much more than some of these comments deserve.  you all should be ashamed of yourselves.    

dfhaleycko
173 posts
 
Long-time VPI owner -- record cleaning machine in 1996; VPI Scout owner since 2004 and yes, it's been upgraded a few times with tonearm, motor, platter, feet, etc.

I applaud VPI's effort to bring rationality to its line.  My major concern is that VPI retains some strategy for managing innovation while at the same time making it easier for vinyl enthusiasts to understand their line.  Matt's explanation above is great for the moment, but represents a risk to future growth if it becomes etched in stone.

Historically, one of the great things about VPI has been their willingness and ability to explore new ideas and/or revisit historical ones in a new light.  A lot of this was driven by Harry's enthusiasm for the form and the continuous spirit of experimentation. At the same time, this hobbyist orientation makes it difficult to explain, especially since the ideas are often contradictory.  For example, how do you reconcile the ideas about a plinth-mounted motor (inspired by Empire turntables from the early 1960's, I hear) in the Classic with a SAMA (stand alone motor pod) in the Scout/Prime?  Maybe you cannot, so the solution is to axe the Classic line.  Sigh.

I'm sorry to see the Classic line go, because I think it did some things very right compared to my Scout.  But I understand the need to rationalize a line and stop producing an endless variety of different approaches to doing the same thing at the same/similar price point.   But does this mean that the basic platforms cannot change, and forevermore all the innovations will be rearrangements of the existing formats?  This, I think, would be a big mistake. 

Hopefully, once the line gets straightened out, efficiency is established, and rationality will be delivered.  At that point, I hope the doors will remain open for new ideas (not just new lines of electronics) that will continue to burnish VPI's past successes.  I wish them every chance of future growth & success, and hope they will remain a USA-focused contributor to evolution in the great reproduction of music.  
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

A table without a removable armboard? What if, like myself, one doesn’t care for unipivot arms? There are a lot of older VPI tables out there that DO have a separate arm board, and they’re pretty cheap to buy. VPI can do whatever they want, no one has to follow.

The HW-19, and the TNT after it, became, because of their stability and relatively (for the time) high mass, became THE table for straight-tracking arms, which demand a very stable platform (unaffected by the mass of the arm moving across the LP, which greatly impacts the table's center-of-gravity) to operate optimally. For users of such arms (the Eminent Technology is still a great arm, and the more recent TransFi Terminator a fantastic arm at a bargain price), there are plenty of those tables around. And, they were built to last!

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