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VPI turntables

I currently have an Aries Scout with a Soundsmith Carmen 2 cartridge, I'm wondering if I'd hear any improvement going to a Prime with 3D arm or a Super Scout 21 with 10.5 arm or would more improvement be had by changing cartridges. I like the sound now but like most of us I'm always seeking improvement..

I'm using an Ayre phono pre into Pass XP10.

Thanks John

 

 

johnto

Showing 2 responses by stereo5

stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,266 posts
 

The new Prime 21 is at least $5500.00. When I bought my Prime with the unipivot arm ( worst tonearm ever) it was $4000.00 without cartridge. I went to the new Technics SL1200G for four thousand. I love it. I think you saw it in my system the last time you came up. If you do get a Prime, I would go with their newer gimbaled arm, it should be a lot less fussy.

stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,266 posts
 

When I sold my Prime, the dual pivot mod was not available.  I heard better sound from a friends HW19 MK IV with a Jelco arm.  With the same cartridge as mine, we listened to both his VPI and my Prime in my system.  My friends TT was the winner by a mile. We were both using a Dynavector DV 10X5 cartridge plugged into my Mac C2500 with cartridge loading on the fly.  Compared to my friends turntable, my Prime sounded like a cheap Project TT. I was a VPI fanboy for 20 years owning the HW 19 JR, Scout and Prime.  My Technics SL1200G is my last turntable as I am over 1000% satisfied. 

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