VPI 3D & 10.5i armwand compatibility

The 3D tonearm made a substantial improvement over the 10.5i arm on my Super Scoutmaster with rimdrive. The difference is quite noticeable with improved tonality, air, dynamics, better soundstage and depth. Well worth the investment. Yes, there were some glitches during the initial setup but VPI has been super responsive in resolving them.

Don...if you want conclusive, just attach one on to your VPI and rediscover all your vinyl.

Stringreen

Fremer's listening downloads comparison of the 3D Vs 10.5 on his site shows NO CONCLUSIVE vote in favor of the 3D!

You are a rabid VPI fanboy, and not rational.

I have a demo 3D arm that comes complete with a pivot assembly and tonearm rest bracket if you are interested. It is tested and works fine replacing a standard 10.5 tonearm. The pivot assembly is backwards compatible to the original 10.5 arm, so you can use it with both. The tonearm rest is larger to accomodate the larger diameter of the 3D arm, but you can use it for the original 10.5 as a rest.

Don...clearly you don't know what your talking about. Instead of making pronouncements that mean nothing, you should find a 3D arm and listen to it compared to any other arm you think is better. You do a disservice to this forum.

The VPI 3D arm is a joke, and a perpetual prototype, sold and promoted on TOTAL HYPE!

The 3D is NOT interchangeable with 10.5i

VPI's return/upgrade policy will be to charge you for whatever is required to make your arm work.

I went through 3 rounds of returns and reworks with VPI on my 3D arm
for a C3 and in the end the experience left me so exhausted that I have since
sold the arm as well as the table on Audiogon. I will not be purchasing anything else from VPI....

However:

The person who bought my arm read VPIs giant statement on the 3D arm page of their website that said "This tonearm is backwards compatible and will fit on all past and current VPI Turntables."

That is a bold faced LIE!

His fairly recent classic one has the arm base coming up from the arm mount,
not the platform and VPI's response to him??

"Give us 415.00 and we'll send you what you need to make it work"......
now I might get negative feedback on Audiogon because I can't take
the arm back......

The prototypes never end.......

What will be VPI's return/upgrade policy for owners of the original 3d arm who now desire a non-prototype design?

VPI - thanks for that. I'll wait.

I decided to send my queries to Agon rather than directly to you guys because I know you are busy and usually take a while to respond.

HOWEVER - you may also have seen my counterweight weights thread (started same date) and can respond ? I need to be sure of the weight I need to balance a Lyra Dorian mono (6.4g). 100gm is the lightest I've seen but I don't know if that's OK - especially with the SoundSmith in place. At present I'm using a 'standard' weight (110+gm ?) and a head-shell weight - which I don't like doing.

If you can advise I can close that thread.

Many thanks.

For easy compatibility and swapping without any adjustments... wait a little! I've read the adjustment problems people have had both on the forums and in emails. I'm correcting the design to be easier to use, set up, and swap. More information to come on this in the next few weeks. The current design works and sounds fantastic! However, it has proven to not be the easiest to work with.