What's your SDS setting?

I would only use the recommended lubricants for the VPI. The Classic platter has a dry lubricant from the factory that lasts quite a long time. When you mix lubricants you get trouble. I have a Superscoutmaster rim drive with a Classic platter. The setting on the SDS is Voltage 71, Frequency 6151. It is absolutely stable and accurate at these settings.

I'm at 62.42 but I have a Super platter which - I presume - requires the higher setting.
By the way, anyone know how often I should lubricate the bearings?

I would lubricate the bearings yearly. Around every 12 months I would sense speed instability. Bearing lube fixed it immediately. Motor oil for the motor is probably needed less frequently.

I agree with the above - ALWAYS use VPI bearing grease and motor oil. It's cheap relative to the cost of the investment in your turntable.

In my system, using the KAB Speed Strobe, my 33.3 RPM speed is dead on at 72V and 59.94Hz. The 45 RPM speed is dead on at 90V and 80.95Hz. This is on a VPI Aries 3 with Super Platter. My whole system is powered through a BPT BP-3.5 Signature.

Thanks for the responses, guys.

The grease topic has been discussed in another thread I started so I don't want to turn this one into another grease thread, but I will say that the VPI grease also contains Teflon so it's very similar (or so I thought) to the bike grease I used. VPI ok'ed it as well.

Stringreen - my Classic was pre-lubricated with "wet" grease as I saw the excess come out a bit when I first started using the turntable. If there was any dry lubricant in my Classic, it should be long gone now as I've cleaned the bearing at least three times over the past two years.

After my experience with the slowing down of the platter after lubricating it, I believe the table sounds better at lower settings. The sound at 61.85 Hz was anemic and lacked the liveliness I heard when the SDS was set to just over 60 Hz. After I re-lubricated the bearing I was able to lower the setting by over 1 Hz, and the liveliness, energy, and snap came back.

I don't know whether the Super Platter requires a higher setting (apparently not per the poster above), but I am now of the opinion that there is a sonic benefit in having the SDS set to the lowest possible setting. Ensuring the platter spins effortlessly is one of the ways to accomplish it. For the Classic platter, a setting of almost 62 Hz seems very high to me. Since apparently the current frequency is quite stable, I'd think that the SDS should be set close to 60 Hz under most circumstances. If so, the higher setting could potentially be explained by less than ideal lubrication that causes the motor to struggle to maintain correct speed at 60 Hz.