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Need help and advice on a VPI 3D arm

I was wondering if anyone else has had this issue with the new 3D arm? I bought a new Prime table 4 months ago to try the new 3D arm I also have a Classic stainless steel arm to load another cart on to compare the two back and fourth, last night I was going to switch the cartridges on the two arms and could not set the azimuth on the 3D arm, to get the azimuth right I had to tilt the drop counter weight plus the Soundsmith intuitive way off of center and it is causing the side weights to rub against the adjustment column and is very tilted, after walking away from the setup 3 times I pulled the arm, pulled the side weights off so it would sit square on a level marble counter top and set it flat on the surface and eyeballed it, this thing has lost its shape, the barrel of the arm has a gradual bend downward and the cartridge shell portion of the arm is rolled down and in. This is really throwing off the geometry of the cart in the arm. I placed the stainless steel arm out in the same way and its barrel is perfectly straight and it's head shell is straight as well, it's only issue is that it is slightly off on the azimuth but that can be adjusted out easily. The fact that the barrel and the headshell on the 3D arm is so far off I certainly can not trust my setup to be accurate. I store whichever arm is not being used in a VPI holding case for the 10 inch arms and it has not been dropped or subjected to any drastic temperature changes. I am going to call VPI on Monday but if this is an issue with these arm wands I certainly don't want another one. Let me also add that I believe that this has been a gradual demise of the arm and that I do love the arms sonic signature so would hope VPI has an answer. Tooblue
tooblue
gbanderhoos
20 posts
 
HW-

Thanks for weighing in and clarifying the situation. I’m a Prime owner (w/3D arm) and have a few questions:

Quote: "We now have 3200 3D arms made and shipped with a twisting rate of roughly 1% (almost all in the first year)".

This would seem to imply that it is a manufacturing defect rather than a design problem. If it is a defect, then can you tell us at which serial number and/or date of mfr you made the correction? Also, what was the cause of the defect and how was it cured?

If it is not a manufacturing defect, then wouldn’t all of the tone arms potentially have this problem? Maybe the rate is higher than 1%, they just haven’t been discovered as of yet (mine does not have this problem, but I also haven’t exposed it to direct sunlight or heat).

Are the tone arms made by VPI or by WM Manufacturing like your other components?

Any follow up would be greatly appreciated.
miner42
709 posts
 
This topic caused me to carefully look at my 3D arm - my arm was produced prior to the newer design.  I use a Ortofon cadenza Black with my 3D arm - a heavy cartridge at 10.7g which causes me to use a heavy counter weight.  The heavy CtW caused my stub to bend downward and therefore would affect my VTF.  I checked weekly and would get a different reading and now I know why.  I contacted my dealer who then worked closely with VPI CS (Mat) and I now have a newly designed arm n the way to replace my current 3D arm.  My arm was less than a year old.  Great service by VPI and in this day of expensive audio gear it is refreshing to know a company stands behind its product - a legacy left behind by Harry etal.
fc911c's avatar
fc911c
44 posts
 
My question would be if the table is only four months why does it still have the older arm? I was considering this table as an upgrade from my ScoutMaster II and would like conformation that it will come with the updated arm.

tooblue OP
1,927 posts
 
fc911c, these 3D arms have gone thru 3 or 4 different iterations, three that I know of. The first being the one with the arm lift molded in the second one going with the metal arm lift that bolts on with the cart and the third with the thicker headshell, a work in progress you might say. I to came from a Scoutmaster with SDS, perifial ring and BDR record clamp and loved it but always wanted to try the 10.5 arm versus the 9 arm and as good as the 9 is the 10.5s are sooooo much better and when you add the perifial ring, SDS and a good record clamp it is really sweet.

fc911c's avatar
fc911c
44 posts
 
Thanks tooblue for the information. Could you post some pictures of your new arm? I too have the ring and the hrx  clamp no SDS though. I would like to get an SDS can you explain what it did to improve your setup?
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