the vpi scout is supposedly a well-designed turntable and more than a few professional reviewers seem to think it performs well above its price level. perhaps even throwing a blanket over the front of the cabinet to shield the turntable from air-borne vibrations would help to resolve this issue. a damaged stylus or a malfuntioning phono-stage would also be something to investigate. if everything is working as it should, the turntable should sound "different" than the cdp, and perhaps not quite as revealing, but it should still sound like music. the only thing i find with my aries turntable is that rock and roll alblums that i used to like sound tinny and poorly balanced, while a decent classical recording or a blue note sounds pretty darn good.
but since i upgraded to a very good digital front end, i can listen to either source, vinyl or cd. they sound different, but i get used to either one very quickly. now, if i get a $20k turntable i would certainly expect some extra information to pop out of the grooves, but with about 500 alblums and about 750 cd's, i'm kinda happy to leave well enough alone if you know what i mean. and heck, cd's have been getting awfully good in the last several years, with hdcd, sacd, dsd, 4d, 20bit, etc. then there are giant-killer cd players out there as well as turntables for less than $3k that get the job done. oh, and PS- i do not hear the belt on my turntable or motor noise or wow and flutter; the jmw arm tracks just fine thank you. i do have the sds-controller but i'm not aware of any dramatic improvements in the sound from adding it over the vpi-plc. AND PSS- the esoteric cdp's in other threads get trashed for sounding too analytical and even "harsh" when compared to competing cdp's- go figure...
but since i upgraded to a very good digital front end, i can listen to either source, vinyl or cd. they sound different, but i get used to either one very quickly. now, if i get a $20k turntable i would certainly expect some extra information to pop out of the grooves, but with about 500 alblums and about 750 cd's, i'm kinda happy to leave well enough alone if you know what i mean. and heck, cd's have been getting awfully good in the last several years, with hdcd, sacd, dsd, 4d, 20bit, etc. then there are giant-killer cd players out there as well as turntables for less than $3k that get the job done. oh, and PS- i do not hear the belt on my turntable or motor noise or wow and flutter; the jmw arm tracks just fine thank you. i do have the sds-controller but i'm not aware of any dramatic improvements in the sound from adding it over the vpi-plc. AND PSS- the esoteric cdp's in other threads get trashed for sounding too analytical and even "harsh" when compared to competing cdp's- go figure...