VPI 3D tonearm

If this VPI 3D tonearm turns out to sound 'wonderful' as some here are eager to conclude........be aware that you could have been listening to EXACTLY the same tonearm, manufactured by 20th century methods 25 years ago!?

The same could be said about every new tonearm and turntable.

Sweating, brazing, threading parts do not make a one piece tonearm.

I still don't see it as anymore cynical than when Corvette went to plastic bodies.

Thanks for the 3d primer, very informative.

I am perfectly happy with my current tonearms and have zero interest in purchasing this one.

Sweating, brazing, threading parts do not make a one piece tonearm.

But casting, welding, machining and gluing do.

I hope I am always behind the person or company that puts its own money behind new products and innovations and lets the market determine its success or failure. Where you see cynicism I see the American Dream.

I heard a description of this VPI arm at the NYC show in April. Harry explained that there are some complex shapes and sectional changes in the arm tube interior that are not possible to produce by other methods. Apparently this arm tube is very good at controlling/damping vibrations. The lack of joints/seams also was discussed as an advantage.

I don't know how different the VPI 3D is from my SME V-12 arm tube, but the latter is also one piece with a varying cross section, and it is made of magnesium.

I was also told the 3D takes one day to make in the printer.

Dear Henry, You obviously have a vast knowledge of esoteric manufacturing processes. Thanks for the input on that subject. However, I would take issue with your last sentence:

"But casting, welding, machining and gluing do." This was written in reference to what makes a one-piece construct. Welding and gluing do NOT make a one-piece construct, by my strict definition. Welding and gluing can fuse two constructs that are separately one piece each. In both techniques there will be an interface even between two items machined from identical materials, where the foreign material in the joint (glue or weld) could act to reflect energy and create spurious resonances. Casting and machining have their limitations, as well. Could you admit that it is remotely possible that there could be some advantage to the use of 3D printing to make a tonearm that is "more" of a single piece than was heretofore achieved (by technologies with which the rest of us are somewhat familiar)?

I have no idea whether the VPI tonearm is good, bad, or indifferent, but the project seems novel and interesting. It's possible that the 3D printing is ground-breaking but that epoxy sucks for a tonearm. We'll find out.

You might better say that introducing a Classic 4 so soon after the Classic 3 is an example of something not so admirable.