I recently upgraded my Mk III with the platter from the Aries Black Knight and the super arm board. It makes a huge difference in sound! In terms of aesthetics, I prefer the look of my HW 19 to that of the current aries or scouts. Hey, what can I say, I like wood.
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Okunokata, Take a moment to slow down and breathe. You've been going at this in a frenzy for several days now, and it seems to me that you're making assumptions that are not warranted by what you report you've been told or have heard. VPI has an excellent track record of supporting its turntables and is one of the most reputable and well-respected high-end companies in the world. You have no foundation for going on and on about VPI not supporting the HW-19 series into the future, even if they DO make the decision not to continue selling the unit. Red Trumpet (http://www.redtrumpet.com) and Music Direct (http://www.amusicdirect.com) both sell a complete complement of parts and upgrades for VPI - I'm sure there are other sources, also. And VPI's web page lists retail pricing for all of the HW-19 parts. I can't imagine VPI would not sell direct if the need was there; they certainly have in the past. I don't know that you noticed, but Jonmatd's message was signed "HW". Unless I am sorely mistaken (and I don't believe so), you have just received confirmation from the best source there is: Harry Weisfeld, owner of VPI. If Harry says VPI has no intention of abandoning support or advancement of the 19 series, I'd be inclined to take his word for it. |
I bought a HW-19 jr about 2 yrs ago with the thinking that I would upgrade at a latter date. So when I took my table in last month to get a new cart(broke my BPS stylus) I called beforhand to talk about going to the MK IV, my dealer said the HW 19 series was being discontiued and that the Scout is a better table over the MK IV, which I could get for $1000. w/ trade in of my jr and he would put my new cart (Benz Ace L) on the scout. To be frank I was kinda pissed that what I thought would be a 1st rate near high end table to last a lifetime is now, to some extent, just the latest to end up on the scrap heap. Thats not to say that the MK IV is crap, nor is my dealer, who has provided excellent service and whose opinion I trust, is just looking to make a sale. In truth, I HAVE been thinking of getting the Scout in the near future but I see VPI now has the Scoutmaster, an improved version of the orginal model. If I get the Scoutmaster, does this mean I am offically "in the club" of always looking for the next best in sound and never finished building a system? Jon |
Just because they they decide to no longer manufacture the HW-19 series does not mean that they will no longer service them. I doubt very much that Harry Weisfeld would not want to service these turntables of which I imagine there are many thousands out in service. My guess is that it may not make sense to to keep selling the HW series now that they have the Scout and Aries which are priced at a similar price point. BTW,I used to own an HW19MK1V and it was a fine table for the money. |
VPI is the kind of company that will support their products as long as they can. As far as I know they still sell the HW-19 MK III and Mk IV new. Just recently they changed the Mk IV upgrade kit to include the Aries Black Knight platter thereby dropping the price of the kit by $200! Don't worry about it! |