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Sprung vs Unsprung VPI Turntables.

Taking a look the new VPI unsprung tables I feel that they have taken this path based more on economy than on sound quality. Take a look at there new Classic. Its clearly a replacement for the revered HW19 MKII,III,IV but with out the suspension. Now think about the manufacturing process. For unsprung tables once your plinth is cut and ready all you need to do is bolt the parts on and you are done. With a sprung table things are complicated. You need to match your suspension parts first, assemble them and then they need to be calibrated to work properly. You need skilled labor and fine tuning to get the tables to the stores.
So, my point is no need to jump to a new fad just because...
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Showing 2 responses by jkorten

jkorten
36 posts
 
Well I live in an apartment building in NYC with a concrete floor and I use an Arcici Lead Balloon stand filled with lead shot. I have a 1" think piece of felt on top and then a 1" piece of acrylic on top of the felt.

My tonearm is the SME V (ca 1987) and I use Grado Cartridges and the SAMA motor.

IMHO the sorbothane suspension is far better than the sprung suspension. The bass goes far deeper and the imaging is higher and deeper.

That's my experience.

I've switched back for a while when I changed out my speakers and amplifiers and ended up with the Sorbothane pucks again.
jkorten
36 posts
 
If you were able to read the TT tweak section of mapleshade records before it was removed (now missing from their website), he spoke about one of the biggest improvements being to remove suspension of the turntable and of the motor in order to remove "random motion" between the two. In fact this is what Harry has done on the most recent TT (Classic) and I think there is merit to this.

I may try substituting isoblocks under the motor and surefoots under the TT instead of sorbothane even (provided I'm on one of those maple blocks of course....) if I don't upgrade to the Classic.

BTW - I do not believe that VPI would make any change that is not related to improving the sound at a given price point. His business does fine on record cleaners and accessories alone for him to be worried about replacement markets.
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