congrats. It is a very good table |
So I thought I would post a follow up. I did end up with the Prime. I will say what I noticed right away was how quiet it was. Absolutely no hint of noise. Not that I can say that I ever noticed any noise with my scout but the Prime was noticeably quieter. The sound over all is clearer and the bass is more extended and tight. I also upgraded to the 2m black from the bronze. The bronze was definitely less picky about setup. The black over has the same basic sound just has a little more . I would say the black is an improvement but the bronze is s not far behind. |
Does it sound better. I guess. Is it 4000.00 better, not sure. buy more records. |
Is the upgrade from Scout 1.1 to the Prime worth it? Given that the VPI Scout Prime is Stereophile's cover story for the October issue, I'd say, "Probably." |
I actually like my scout better. i have an original scout with acrylic platter. Sounds great. Depends on what you like. I always thought the original classic sounded pretty darn good. |
I never heard the Scout but I have heard the Prime and I was wowed by it. Excellent table. |
I have a Scout 1.1 and had the original Soundsmith Zephyr on it for about 3 years. Sounded great and tracked well. Then I upgraded my phono pre to a Chinook with NOS tubes, and got the Soundsmith MIMC Star cart and it was a big improvement. Rest of system similar to yours
Primaluna Dialogue Premium amp
PL Prologue Premium pre amp
Martin Logan ESL speaks
Running Springs Haley power conditioner
I am quite happy now, but one day may move to the Prime and am sure it will be the right move. Check out Soundsmith, lately excellent deals on them. Will get my original Zephyr retipped soon as a backup cart.
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Thank you I really appreciate all of your opinions. I think I will make the leap to the Prime. I will also likely upgrade the Bronze to the Black until I can afford to do a nice MC and step up at the same time. I will be back for recommendations. |
I also went from a Scout 1.1 to a Prime. As good as the Scout is, there's no comparison. Agree with the posters recommending a cartridge upgrade. I went from a Ortofon 2M Black to an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze plus Bob's VPI SUT. The sonics are outstanding. |
The Prime is a much better turntable but actually to improve
the sound resolution much more would require a MC cartridge.
I think that you would find that even on your Scout changing to
a MC pre amp or using a step up transformer such as one
from Bob's devices paired with a good MC cartridge would make a huge difference.
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The OP listed a MM only phono stage. Kinda hard to drive a low output MC. I agree that the Prime could use a better cart, but an Ortofon Black might be a better option.
I just setup one of the new MOFI UltraTrackers ($499) and am pretty impressed with it so far. The MasterTracker is even better. |
A 2M Bronze, yeah a Prime can do much better. A Cadenza Bronze however, would be a sweet match. |
How a about a cartridge upgrade? Seems like it might be an area of improvement. I'm sure it sounds good I just wonder if there might be another mm/mi that would be in line price wise with the rest of your gear. A Bronze on a Prime seems a little lopsided. Again though I'm just saying price wise. I can see you gave a Dyna 17d in your system a try at one point. I suspect you may really like the Ortofon. If so forget everything I just said.
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So it would seem the consensus is that the prime is a worthwhile upgrade from the scout when talking about turntables. I still wonder if the rest of my system is worthy of the upgrade or should upgrade other pars of my system first? |
I went from the original Scout to a Prime with no regrets. Every aspect of the sound is better. +1 |
I went from the original Scout to a Prime with no regrets. Every aspect of the sound is better. |
Wilson667, the upgrade to the Prime from your Scout will bring several things that are notable, first the larger platter which will accept the perifial ring is the upgrade that you will notice the most when that is added, the 10 inch arm is quite the upgrade in itself whether you believe in the 3D technology or not the 10 inch arms do a lot of things better like the first and last tracks of each album are notably better tracked by the longer arm, I have a 3D arm and a Classic metal arm and love them both for different reasons. I believe also that you are going from a 600 rpm motor to a 300 rpm on the Prime, also a plus. The real deal from VPI looks to be the new Scout Prime Special Edition, check it out.
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