VPI HW 19?

For clarification.. my complaint is that with the discontinuing of the line spare parts may soon, if not already, be unavailable. Also wondering if anyone will be able to work on it as I'm not much of a tinkerer myself.

Yes, nothing lasts forever (sigh). I bought the table in 1989 give or take a year or two. Was thinking about doing some upgrading as it is starting to show some age. Now I'm wondering if it will be worth doing.

Hi, Fairmountdan,Unsure what upgrades you're considering?I myself have no idea to what extent of replacement parts VPI still has available for the 19 Series?Probably, the most important parts that would be maybe needed down the line due to failure, or damage, would be the Motor, Pulley, Bearings/Bearing Wells, Dustcover. Other parts would be the different Arm Bases, etc. Appears belts will be made till the end of time, as other models do use the 19 Belt (Aries 1, Scout, and TNT Jr)Probably best bet would be to call VPI themselves.As far as upgrade packages that VPI used to sell, it appears that none of their Dealers have any left over stock of these items. While VPI doesn't advertise Plinth upgrades, upgrade packages, Armboards etc, these still may be an in stock item? Just maybe not in great quantities?I myself just upgraded my HW-19JR yesterday with a Mark-IV Platter, and Bearing-One Piece VPI Clamp, and replaced the Rubber Feet with Audiopoints from MusicDirect. Was a worthy upgrade! I will shortly be placing an absolute mint VPI-19JR Clear Acrylic Platter-Bearing-Bearing Well, and Stock Jr Clamp, and also a mint Black Diamond Racing two-piece Carbon Fiber Clamp for the 19's on A-gon in the next couple of days. Just haven't quite settled on a selling price as of yet for these parts. Mark

Markd51, thanks for the response.

One upgrade I'm considering is a new arm. Guess that means an new armboard?? I have a Sumiko Premier FT 3 but guessing there's better out there.

Another is a worry about motor burning out. Can't tell from VPi's website whether this is still available or not... they say something about motor assembly. Will call them when they get back from vacation. Guess you could always cannibalize a part if necessary.

There seems to be more noise coming from the table that sometimes gets in the way of the music. Perhaps this is related to a post I read somewhere that talked about greasing a bearing differently?

Good to hear that belts will still be around. Thanks for the info.

I e-mailed VPI last year about this issue and recieved a very nice reply that VPI was committed to continued support of those who have the HW-19Jr. Upgrade parts may be limited but I was told that repair parts are and will continue to be available.

There was a spare AC motor for sale here in the classifieds around the 3rd, or 4th of this month, and in fact, it was listed by the same Audiogon seller whom I bought my MK-IV Platter from (user ID JDolgin) He listed it for a very inexpensive price, and was an absolute pleasure to deal with for my Platter, but I'm not sure if the 19 Motor is still for sale? For what he was asking, I maybe should've picked it up as a spare to have! :-) I'm unsure whether you have a one piece Plinth, or a separate Armboard with your 19, but I'm VPI themselves will help you, and will know exactly what you'll need, depending on the type of Arm you're considering buying. They're a great company, and stand behind what they sell admirably. I suspect you won't have a problem getting what you need from them. Mark