I have some curiosity about this table myself having been both a previous Classic owner as well. If it has the mass of the Classic plinth in addition to suspension, it might be worth looking into. The new motor sounds nice, too. I’ll look forward to checking it out in Capital Audio Fest in a few weeks if it shows up there, which I’m almost certain it will.
I’ve since moved on from the Classic to a Clearaudio Innovation Wood and also deal Pure Fidelity turntables which I prefer over the VPI I had, but in my experience the weakest link of my two VPI setups were the JMW arms. Even with the 12” 3DR and dual pivot, it didn’t deliver nearly as good of sonic performance as a few other high end tonearms.
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It's a modern day HW-19 with updated technology.
Still use a custom HW-19 as my reference table.
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Right @mofimadness, the biggest difference being that the HW-19’s floating subchassis was isolated from the base and plinth with a 4-spring suspension. Also, the HW-19's top plate was a sheet of aluminum (stainless steel in the Mk.4 iteration) bonded to a 1/2" thick sheet of acrylic.
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Belt drive, rim drive, direct drive, mass loaded plinth, spring suspension plinth. standalone motor, onboard motor, 300rpm motor, 600rpm motor, fixed tonearm board, removable tonearm board, four feet, three feet, uni-pivot, gimbal...sounds like VPI has all the basis covered!
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Very interesting...."modular" design. I have a Superscoutmaster I’ve tricked out just that very way...... Rim drive, Ceramic platter, dual motors, SDS. 2nd pivot arm....etc. It sounds great The unipivot arm has gotten lots of bad press...... I like it.....the more careful the setup, the greater the rewards.
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I've seen 2nd pivot or dual pivot description. Are these the same and what does that refer to? Thanks 🙏
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Built like the proverbial brick house. Top plate and removeable arm board are about 1/4" aluminum. The sub chassis is even thicker aluminum. The table has VPI anti vibration feet and the sub chassis is isolated but stiffly. The arm is all new with a removeable head shell and azimuth adjustment and there is of course fine VTA adjustment. The arm tube is ess shaped and different; it’s machined solid aluminum and very dead(no tube like resonances). The warranty is 10 years and it’s intended to be upgradable for 10 years. There are two upgrades planned already including a direct drive.
The version one of the Forever series is $5250 with arm and dust cover. Interestingly the parts will fit an original HW-19 base.
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I forgot to add, it's a gimble tone arm not a unipivot.
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P.S. It will be available without an arm also.
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@dynamiclinearity...you state below that the new tonearm has a "removable" headshell? The pictures I’ve seen shows that’s not the case. Also, how do you know that the new parts can be used on the HW-19 series? Just curious.
I found this:
"The new 10″ VPI S-Tonearm is made from a solid chunk of aluminum, no tube here, and has a fixed headshell. The upcoming Model Two Turntable will include a new arm with a detachable headshell which gets us back to the Modular Design approach of the Forever Series—owners of a Model One can swap out their arm module for the upcoming Model Two or Model Three arm for an easy upgrade. The same goes for the Motor Drive and Platter Module. Nice!"
https://twitteringmachines.com/a-trip-to-vpi-to-meet-their-new-forever-series-model-one-turntable/
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I believe, but not sure, it has a detachable headshell but not a conventional bayonet style. I guess we'll find out for sure at the Capital Audio Show. I do believe they will have a version of the arm with a conventional bayonet mount. I was told this when I mentioned I couldn't use my Technics EPC 100 MK4 with integrated headshell. They said that was coming.
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I know Harry and Matt well and was around as the new table was being developed. And I recall Harry saying the new parts were designed to fit the HW-19 base. But having seen what's new that means basically just the base and the motor and pulley.
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It seems like VPI doesn't know how to build turntables anymore.
Every time it releases a new model, it goes in a different direction.
- Rim drive, direct drive, belt drive.
- Unipivot, dual pivot, gimbal.
- 3d-printed straight tonearm, solid aluminium S-shaped tonearm.
Seems like there is no knowledge transfer from model to model.
A modern turntable these days is more than just mass-loading thick aluminium plates and calling it a day. I see no unique new technology or engineering techniques here that couldn't have been done 10 years ago.
The only good thing here is its relatively low price.
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@chadsort: And it doesn't have any form of isolation, unlike their original HW-19 with it's spring suspension.
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It does have isolation, isolating feet and a suspended sub chassis
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It does have isolation in 2 forms, VPI's special isolating feet and a suspended sub chassis.
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3-Point Floating Suspension (3D Isolation)
The Model One introduces a new 3-Point Floating Suspension system designed for superior isolation from external vibrations. This advanced 3D isolation system stabilizes the turntable, minimizes motor noise, and reduces both external and internal vibrations. Key highlights include:
- Isolated suspension using high-tech polymer, fully adjustable for leveling.
- Enhances sound quality by maintaining stability and isolating the platter and tonearm from any motor noise interference.
- Easy to replace both Motor and Platter Module and Tonearm Module.
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A formal website/magazine review is probably still months away, but so far, the press releases suggest no amazing/unique features.
I'll be looking forward to a Stereophile/AS review.
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