Fremer/SSM w/Rim Drive

I let my subscription lapse. What did he say? Thumbs up? Notably, VPI's new classic, which does not seem able to use the rim drive, seems to imply that VPI is hedging its bets, or even moving in a diffrent direction. Not sure what to make of it, but the Rim drive sounds interesting, as does Teres Verus, which seems to get favorable reviews.

please tell us what He had to say?

Michael Fremer wrote, "Ultimately, what counts is how a product sounds, and the Super Scoutmaster Reference Rim Drive sounded in a word, fantastic." "...Unless you're willing to move into +$25,000 territory, you could buy one and be done -- but I'm not sure you'd gain much, if anything, until you hit a much higher price point,..."

I am also puzzled by VPIs new tables. The Classic has a fixed motor, I thought having an isolated motor was better and the reason they discontinued the HW-19. It is suppose to be better isolated than the other tables but I am not sure how. Apparently it is much easier to bring out new tables than to keep their dealers informed or update their web site. I am one of their dealers and I have no idea of the relative merits of the Scout 2, the Classic or the Scoutmaster. I suppose I could just order all of them but I am a small dealer with limited space and money.

I have a Shelter 501 cartridge. My hope is that I could get a new arm wand, like the one in the Scout II, plug and play, which would be a better match for my cartridge. Right now, I have a weight to help make for a better match. Also, I sprung for the Super Platter...about $800. Now they have a new aluminum platter,less than a year after the super platter came out. Maybe aluminum prices came down and made it more affordable. Anyway, I'd rather have seen VPI spend its R&D developing a Rim Drive for Aries / Scout, if its technically possible...the Verus works with the Scout, or so I hear.