VPI to What

I been using a VPI HW19 Mark 3 with a SME 309 arm for over 30 years and I still enjoy it! If I ever decided to change tables ( probably never ) I would be a lookin’ at a Technics DD. My friend owns one and he raves about it!

I owned a VPI Scoutmaster fitted with a Dynavector XXV MK II. I used a PS Audio phono for awhile but wasn't satisfied. I upgraded to an Rogue Audio Aeris phono which was better but, I still like my digital setup better. 

Sold the VPI and Aeris for a Rega P10 - Alpheta 3 cart mated to an Allnic H5500 phono. That was a massive upgrade. On a whim I plugged my Allnic phono into the aux port of my 1977 Yamaha CR820 and my Technics SL1800. That was amazingly good, so much so, I kept in there in a third system inside my HT room.

Now I'm pulling the trigger on the MoFi Master phono and upgrading the Rega's Alpheta 3 to the Aphelion 2 cartridge. I'm hopeful to have my vinyl collection sing as well if not better than my digital rigs.

@desalvo55 

What steered you to buying the MoFi Master phono?

There are some great phono pre’s in that price range, especially pre owned units. I’m surprised to hear that you consider it an upgrade from an Allnic.

I've been at this hobby for 66 years and was ready to try something different.  My prior rig was a VPI TNT Jr upgraded with a TNT MKV platter.  Upgraded to a  flywheel and started using a silk thread belt from flywheel to platter.  I used the VPI SDS and then the SOTA Total eclipse package. The upgrades were over the course of 20 years.  One constant was my Eminent Technology ET 2.0/2.5 tonearm I've owned since 1986, carried over from a SOTA Star Sapphire that's been gathering dust all this time.  I was just ready to try something different and took a chance on an idler drive, specifically a PTP-12.  I moved the ET over to it with no major issues.  I was hoping for more immediacy / prat and expected possibly a higher noise floor.  That did happen, and I also was pleased to hear an improvement in stringed instruments, especially picked acoustic ones like guitars, harps, and mandolins. The way I can describe it is that it sounds like the strings are "tighter", more realistic.  It's not an exaggerated effect and comes through very noticeably on harps.  I have a Myajimi Shilabe and a retipped Ortofon Cadenza bronze. The Shilabe was OK, but there was an increase in hum as the needle moved closer to the center of the LP. It even hummed when the cartridge was lifted up at the end of the LP.  It's a known issue with Lenco based turntables given the location of the motor right under the platter. I installed the Ortofon and there's no hum with it.  The noise floor is fine, lower than I was expecting given the switch from the VPI silk thread / flywheel belt drive to an idler drive.  Got me interested again in LP's I've played too many times to count.  Which is nice.

Products & brands that sell a lot (successful) also end up on the used market a lot. It says far more about the nature of this hobby and its fickle hobbyists (that’s us), rather than being a damning statement about the product’s performance.

If the product was truly mediocre or defective, then you’d usually see the big market spike shortly after the initial hype, followed by very little activity at all. But then some very good products have also suffered that same pattern - again, it’s the nature of this hobby.

The VPI unipivot, at least since they refined the VTA tower, is fine. If anything, I have more problem with the 3D arm material they’ve switched to. It’s very excitable in bass frequencies. The later JMW series and Classic 3 metal arms are relatively underrated in their lineup, IMO. I guess people fixate on the HF ringing with metal - the bass issue is much more trickly, IMO.