For Basis TT owners does the VPI SDS work?

Fjn04

Thanks for noticing I'll call Mr. Conti in the morning. It seems the person that sold me the table gave me some incorrect info!! It belonged to Larry Kay of "FI" magazine so Mr. Conti will know Vector model number and cable type. BTW I didn't buy TT from Mr. Kay, I purchased it from his friend the local Basis dealer.

Larryi

I was fortunate mine came with the upgraded belt, thanks for the thought!!

Das
I'm hoping for a yes answer also so I checked on Elusive Disc where it says;
"The SDS works best with synchronous motor driven turntables, such as those from VPI."
Then from Galen Carol Basis Turntables reviews-motor;
" Basis employs an ultra high quality synchronous instrument motor..."
I think the answer is yes!!!!

Sam

Das

I bought a VPI SDS 7 days ago and think it's worth it. I used a Clearaudio Strobe Disc and Strobe Laser to adjust the speeds it was amazing how far off the speeds were. There was a different feeling to the music when played at the correct speed, it seemed more "solid/powerful" it just felt right. When I installed the SDS I was using a Koetsu Rosewood and it did tighten up the base some and clean up the highs a little. Yesterday I switched carts to a Koetsu Urushi Black granted this is a big improvement( much more extended, dynamic with much better inner detail) it should expose any problems but the sound stayed clear, powerful and smooth. Now I don't think you can feel that correctness without some type of speed control(just my guess). I'm not ready to A-B with/without the SDS yet as I'm enjoying just listening, 7 hours today!!!

Today I exchanged a Walker PMC with valid points and Teflon board for the VPI SDS controlling the motor for my Basis 2500. The improvement was not subtile in fact I thought I was experiencing the placebo effect, hearing what I wanted/needed to, but after many albums it was clear I wasn't!!! The music was smoother, the bass more immediate, bigger sounding,better defined the highs smoother. A "graininess" that was present with the SDS was gone. Gerrym5 was right when he said "...just more natural music".

Well worth the money; my wife even thought so after listening!!!!

I spoke to AJ Conti this morning about rebuilding my Basis 2500 motor to the Signature Series motor.
AJ felt the Signature model didn't "need" the SDS or Walker to sound better as there was very little electrical "noise"and cogging from the upgraded motor but he did say the speed controllers would help if I had fluctuations in power.
To get the benefit of a controller (his controller) the motor would have to be rewired for the reasons Larryi has stated!

Fjn04,
I e-mailed A.J. his reply:

"On the Vector it is a model 1 or model 2. What color are the wires that form the wire loop? If they are white/blue/red/green the arm is a Model 1 and the cable is Discovery. If they are purpleish in color it is a model 2. Those would be our own design cable."

The wires in my tone arm are white/blue/red/green so I have a Vector 1 with Discovery Cable.

I'm very happy with this as I wanted all Copper cable and purchased this TT because of that (didn't want any silver)!!

Sam

Fjn04,

Dre has it correct, this is what A.J. said about the PSST being a copper cable with silver coating and the Discovery Cable.

'No, this is copper wire, and sounds much, much better than the Discovery, which is very veiled in comparison.'

I'll be the one sending the arm in for rewiring........ eventually.

Sam