Phoenix Engineering Falcon and Eagle

slaw - Why?  Maybe they made the smart move by just buying the remaining inventory.  What would make them a "surrogate of VPI"?  

Besides, now those warranties are all in question.  How long will those units continued to be supported under warranty by a business that has closed their doors?  No guarantees of any support, right?

Speed monitoring is probably not necessary as long as there is sufficient motor torque.  Reduction of the voltage to the motor will reduce the pulses in the belt drive.  THAT is the real issue.  That can be addressed with a small variostat.  No speed variation even running at 70 volts. 

slaw -

You must absolutely hate many of the electronics manufacturers.  Many put out products only to offer costly upgrades and improved products in a truncated product life-cycle.  Frustrating.  But technology along with R&D drive the improvements.  Improve and keep up with or get ahead of the competition, or go out of business.   

I have three VPI tables ranging from 20 to over 30 years old and they are still supported.  I only use the youngest of the three. 

I have said nothing negative about PE.  I just asked about their business operating status and what was going to happen with warranty coverage on their products. 

As far as the use of a variac, it seems to address what I consider the biggest issue with synchronous motors for belt drive tables.  That nasty pulse noise that gets transmitted through the belts to the platter.  Reducing the voltage to the motor after start-up decreases the magnitude of the pulses.  On my table, that results in a lower noise floor, blacker background, improved soundstage, tighter imaging and cleaner presentation.  Not subtle differences.  Is this as good as a servo speed- controlled DC motor?  I don't know.   

I have found through experimentation that after a full voltage start, the platter speed remains audibly stable at voltages far below the VPI motor voltage default (IIRC, 87v).  I run the table at around 70v without audible speed variation. 

This is my opinion related to the operation of my current turntable, an original VPI Aries Extended.  YMMV, your opinion may differ. 

This will probably start the endless debate about platter speed.  IMO, that should probably continue in one of the threads that already exist related to that topic.

Stringreen - I don't have speed variation issues.  What I notice is the pulses from the motor being transmitted through the belt to the platter.  Reducing the voltage reduces the magnitude of the pulses which reduces the noise.  The speed holds quite steady even below 70v.  I use 70v as my motor operating voltage once motor startup is complete. 

I was frustrated by a Minneapolis high-end manufacturer that has been around over 40 years.  But I have always had great support from VPI and exception support from Herron Audio.   Never a complaint about them.  There are some great people in high-end audio.  There is also a large share of turds that foul the punch bowl.