2. analog
  3. 143725-125341

VPI 40th Anniversary Table After Warranty Support Question

Hey guys. I am new here and I wanted to bring up a "thought question/experiment". While talking with a friend about turntables, I brought up the new VPI 40th. My friend mentioned a few interesting points that made me think before jumping on it.

The main question is "What will the after warranty service be like?". Will VPI continue to support this table after the 5 year warranty and for how long? This product is a limited run item so it brings up the question of will there still be parts or replacements for it after 6, 10 or even 20 years? Would it even make sense to stock extra direct drive motors for that long? Would there be applicable "aftermarket" options?

We can reference the Traveler turnable, which started selling in 2012-2013 but discontinued not even 5 years after, as a cautionary tale. Other members on this site have tried to get their Traveler tonearms repaired through VPI only to be told that they cannot be fixed because there are not replacement parts to fix it.. A replacement "used" arm would cost $500, almost the same amount as the resell value of the table itself. This also shows a severe depreciation in value (about 50% drop from MSRP) for the Traveler. In a broader light, are people still able to acquire parts, like the bearing, at a reasonable price for older tables (HRX, TNT, Aries, Classic, HW-19 or HW-17/27) from VPI?
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/vpi-turntable-repair

The other question refers to the reliability of the table. Even with a 5 year warranty, nobody wants to have to use it. VPI is pretty well known for "1st gen" problems. Easy examples are again the Traveler, but also newer products like the ADS,the Nomad, and even the Prime tables. And a constantly revolving issue is the 3D tonearm, with the most recent issue being leakage.
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9674
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10772
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/need-help-and-advice-on-a-vpi-3d-arm

With a limited run table like the 40th, it would be pretty costly to redesign a V2 version. Have they performed an extensive quality check? Or will problems start to arise 1 year after? And if problems can hold out past the 5 years, how costly would it be to the user? Or would there be no parts for it?

Similar, but obscure discussions were brought up about the Voyager Preamplifier, which I have only seen article reviews of but no customer/ end user feedback. Any information on is also limited to 2017, nothing in 2018.
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9514

So what are your thoughts on the new VPI turntable?



magmadster

Showing 1 response by french_fries

french_fries
815 posts
 
I am (very) biased in my opinion. I own a VPI ARIES-ONE turntable. It has one belt. It works very nicely. The arm wobbles a little but I like it anyway.
It has an excellent arm lift and gently lower the stylus onto the record.
I had often looked at the TNT-6 with the HRX double motor system, but it's discontinued. I am not interested in rim drive or direct drive. My records sound very good- comparable to (good) digital. VPI has a somewhat simple manual but with a little help from the dealer I set it up
in a couple of hours. My last turntable was a Thorens which did not sound anywhere near as good. The new Prime Tables look very simple
which also look very appealing. VPI holds a nice niche in the record-playing universe. Like I said, I like simple. I love the Linn LP12 also, but
the suspension is Extremely sensitive. 
More to discover