Ha_ha_he_man: "a typical get on board and sell what somebody has designed already to keep making money off others paid for engineering designs." :-) _______ |
I lived with the VPI rim drive for a couple years and found it to be a big improvement over complete belt drive. I agree with Stingreen on that point. It can sound quite good but is very tweaky and sensitive to set up. YMMV but in my opinion it only hints at what a good direct drive can do with just the push of a button. A well set up Technics mkII or mklll not only beats this but never drifts off speed or Boggs down. It's like living with a toy record player that performs like a SOTA design costing tens of thousands. |
Just so we are clear on this the VPI drive is not a true rim drive by definition. It still uses belts to drive the rim so technically this is NOT A RIM TRUE DRIVE but a typical get on board and sell what somebody has designed (ALL VPI TURNTABLES are direct copies from other previous designs)already to keep making money off others paid for engineering designs. |
I was just about to write about how fussy the rim drive is to set up when I read those other posts. My VPI rim drive is quite fabulous now, but I've been tweeking it for about a year....different feet on motor drive...different Oring on the rim drive, with extreme care in installing it as not to twist it while doing so, making absolutely sure the motor drive and the platter are on the same plane, etc., etc.,etc. One of the best things about the rim drive I find is the absolute clarity and pitch tunefulness of the bass...not bloated at all. I have not heard the Teres motor, but if you are willing to come to Scottsdale, Arizona, lets have another shootout. |
I thought I would check in to see if anyone else could comment on the teres verus vpi combo...any comments would be much appreciated... |
Agree with Jbcello, VPI rim drive is quite fussy to setup.
first, you need to make sure the belt sits in the "rim" evenly. this is easier said than done. if belt is not seated evenly, speed will vary.
second, the spacing between motor and platter is very sensitive. too close, you will hear motor rumble. too far, pitch will vary. I found VPI's initial recommendation of ~1 revolution of free spin after power off is too far and can introduce pitch variation especially if belt is not seated in the rim evenly.
play a piano solo record and you will know if you have the rim drive properly setup. but once setup, the transient attack is significantly better than old SSM motor with belt. |
As I read this post I got to wondering if Johnjc's Rim drive was set up properly. It is my understanding that the VPI Rim drive can be fussy and needs to be set up just right. I have heard that the proper set up for the Rim Drive is that the drive barely touches the platter, and that when the motor is shut off, the platter should continue to turn around one or two rotations. I have recently acquired the Super Scoutmaster Ref with Rim drive, but I am still working on getting it sounding its best. So, I just set the Rim Drive so I get one or two platter rotations after it is shut off. My analysis of minute Rim Drive set up is just going to have to wait until my other performance goals are realized. So, the question is, was Johnjc's VPI Rim Drive fully optimized before comparisons were made? |
Gut_man Think the Verus would take the VPI TNT with superplatter up with the very best |
Thanx for an informative test. I am considering the Teres Verus for my VPI TNT upgraded mk3 with superplatter. |
The standard Verus motor drive wheel overhangs the motor pod by 0.4". We have an optional drive wheel that is larger with an overhang of 0.8" that works with the Scoutmaster. |
I can see where overhang is not an issue with a scoutmaster or Aries 3 but would be with a Super Scoutmaster. The Super Scoutmaster does not have a cutout in the plinth where the motor goes. Thanks for the overhang measurment of the motor.
Mike |
The overhang isn't the issue. It only stands a little over 4". The overhang of the drive on the motor is around 1/2". You'll have to raise the motor to reach the platter. Mine doesn't lean at all and it's not necessary to either. I'm using the Superplatter on mine with no problems. Reaches speed quicker than the combo fly/motor |
I use the old lead TNT platter so maybe different with a standard Super Scoutmaster but having a quick look at the distance between edge of platter and the plinth about 10mm (about 0.4inch) |
Thank you for the review, I am looking into getting a Verus for my Aries 3. From pictures it looks like The Aries 3 has more platter overhang than the Super Scoutmaster which would eliminate the problem of not enough reach with the Verus. My platter overhangs the Aries 3 plinth by approx. 1.25 inches. What is the platter overhang on a Super Scoutmaster?
Thanks, Mike |
Yes I think its the speed stabilty that gives the Verus the edge in terms of performance. It seems like a lot of design and thought has gone into the speed controller. I really wish my findings were different but there is a noticeable change in sound quality. The Terminator is a fantastic arm and has plenty of bass I can totally recommend the arm, have a read of Clive review on Enjoy the music I agree with every word he says or Trans Fi web site (Clients corner). What makes the Terminator so special is the inverted V block it allows you to use short wands so decreasing the amount of resonace picked up. I heard a lot of arms and this is eaisly one of the best |
Being a Scoutmaster owner, I waited for a year for the VPI Rim Drive. Finally gave up and went with the Verus. I had the motor/flywheel combo. When I got the Verus set up, I was immediately happy with the overall improvement. As you mentioned, the height of the Verus makes it a little tricky unless you don't use or want the outer ring. The smaller motor is the only one in that case that works with the Scoutmaster, and I temporarily, (or so I thought), put the motor on top of a piece of plywood. Haven't gotten around to trying something else under it but also not sure it would make much difference really. I've had no problems with rumble or the O-ring. Adjusting the speed took some time. I strongly recommend the Verus. Looks and sounds good with the Scoutmaster. |
Nice review. I need to run up to Teres and Versus to try with my Pro-ject RM10. I haven't read a bad word about it, except with the potential problems with the O-rings. (Seems like they would nail a solution down on that and not leave it up to a crap shoot).
Dave |
It's nice that someone actually compared these two rim drive systems. In theory the Verus should be the more speed-stable of the two, owing to the lack of compliant rubber belts in the drive-train.
What do you think of the Trans-Fi Terminator linear tonearm? I've been considering one as an alternative to my Graham 1.5tc. |