Scooter, unipivot arms are not good. Too many degrees of freedom. The VPI bearing in particular is not very durable. You here stories here of people having to change the needle. VPI now has a gymballed arm which looks very nice but I doubt that is the arm on these tables. Go to Lyra's web site and look at their recommendations. Only arms with "rigid bearings" need apply. |
I would go with the Prime besides being a gorgeous table it is a current version and the 10 inch 3D arm is very easy to set up and maintain, with that said the peripheral ring and clamp should be part of your equation with either of the 3D/unipivot arms for best results. I have never had an issue with Lyra carts on any of my VPI unipivots. Enjoy the music
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I had a VPI Prime and could not stand the unipivot arm. Every time I wanted to play a record, I had to constantly fiddle with the arm. The problem was it was always tilting to one side or the other no matter how many times I adjusted it. I had the same problem wit the VPI Scout, but to a much less degree. I now own a Technics SL1200G and bye bye problems. |
@stereo5 , was it you that didn't like it or your wife and if it was you why did you buy a Prime after owning a Scout, they have a unipivot arm also right. The OPs question was either or or so I thought. Just sayin.
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No I never said anything about my vpi red scout just want to upgrade Any help would be appropriate thanks I’m not branded with any manufacturer thanks scooter
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Having a VPI table does not mean you must have a VPI arm. You can take the VPI arm off the TNT (still a fine table imo) and mount any you want. The TNT makes a great platform for linear trackers, the ET being a favorite on the table. |
VPI also now offers a dual pivot stabilizer, as well as a gimbal fatboy. I’d look into those options, as well as other options, before I went for a table with their usual unipivot - as a Koetsu lover the latter just makes me think of the tail wagging the dog. And as cool as the TNT is, a modern Rosewood Prime Signature looks a LOT slicker. |
The Rosewood Prime Signature is mighty purty. An alternative to the TNT is the Aries 1, which with it's TNT-3/4 Delrin/aluminum/lead platter, is imo superior to the TNT-1/2. Cheaper and smaller, too. |
As bdp24 stated the Aries 1 is a great table, there is one here or on another sales site with an SME 5 arm thru a dealer, as you have the Scout already, I am guessing the unipivot might not be an issue for you though. Enjoy the music |
@tooblue ..................
it was both of us. My wife was intimidated by the turntable and wouldn’t use it at all, and I had to constantly play with the arm. I bought the Scout used and I didn’t have as much of an adjustability problem with the Scout as with the Prime. If the gimbaled arm was available at the time of purchase, I may have kept the Prime. I said may because I would have still had the problem with my wife being intimidated by it.
Regardless, we play lots of vinyl with the Technics now and we are both quite happy with it.
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@stereo5 , thanks for your response and I get where you are coming from, the unipivots are certainly not for everyone and it sounds like you and your wife have found your nirvana and playing a lot of vinyl and that ain't a bad thing. Enjoy the music.
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I have a VPI TNT MK3 special reference, with the original JMW-10 arm and love it. The original arm had pivot damping fluid that prevented, "wobble", azimuth ring with fine adjustment, and round rubber isolated counterweight, that was removed with later VPI arms.Top of the line in 1999, but VPI only sold about 100 per year. I use the turntable to this day. The TNT 3 was Stereophile’s turntable of the year at one time. Audio Research used the turntable as a reference until a few years ago, I saw it in their factory several times.
I do not understand why Harry tried to change the arm. It was very easy to make precise adjustments, if you knew what you were doing. I guess most owners did not. A stupid move to dropped counterweight (that always changed the azimuth when adjusted. The elimination of the azimuth ring was also bad.
I hate the plastic 3D arm!
To each there own I guess! |
The TNT-3 and -4 have the same 1.25" Delrin/aluminum/lead platter as the Aries 1, the TNT-5 a 1.5" Delrin/stainless steel platter (no lead). HW switched to frosted acrylic for the Aries 2 & 3 and the TNT-6, a move he later admitted was a mistake. |
@don_c55 ................
I too hate the 3D arm. It feels quite cheesy and does not inspire confidence to the user.
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Wow with all the hate for the 3D arm I should be able to buy one reasonably as I am a confident inspired owned now just need 1 more to mount another cart. Enjoy the music. |
If anyone would like to get rid of their awful, P.O.S 3D arm for cheap, please contact me. I'd love to hear the improvement I've read about.
I have to admit, anything plasticky doesn't hold value to me. |
I have a Superscoutmaster/rim drive/3D/2nd pivot/replaced feet/ no complaints. 3D is a lot better than the aluminum arm....the 2nd pivot advances the sound still further.
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TNT, Ditch the VPI arm, get a new arm board and find a used ET II arm.
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