VPI Classic

Have you added the correct amount of damping oil? I noticed my Grado cartridge moving back and forth without the right amount of damping oil. Once I had the correct amount the cartridge settled down and was much smoother. I added oil a little at a time until I could pull a fine thread raising the tone arm. This may not be the best way be it worked for me on my VPI Aries I.

When you have sorted things out, can you report the differences between the Rega and VPI?

Well, I got a hold of VPI this morning. VPI thinks that I might need a little damping fluid and a different periphery ring. The Benz Gullwing is being effected by the stainless steel ring. Yes, I know stainless steel is supposed to be non-magnetic, but according to VPI some Benz Micro cartridges can be influenced by some of the rings they have manufactured. Some are less magnetic than others. So, they are sending me a ring from a new batch they just machined. You can see the cartridge being pulled towards the ring. Anti-skate is set correctly. So, earlier today I added two drops of damping fluid and that seemed to help quite a bit. I must also mention that VPI's customer service is great. They listened to my issues and were not familiar with my cartridge, so they did some research on my cartridge and called me back with some solutions to fix my problem. So far I am very happy with my treatment from VPI.

Anyways, the new table sounds great. It is a huge step up from my Rega! I loved my Rega and it sounded really good, but I didn't know until recently what I was missing. The VPI Classic has really transformed my system. The soundstage is much wider and deeper. Recordings that sounded flat on my Rega sound fantastic on the Classic. I also noticed a giant reduction in surface noise. So, overall I am very happy with my purchase.

If you are still having issue, you can debug yourself.

Does it wobble when the platter is not spinning but music is playing (play CD for example). If yes, it could be some feedback vibration from floor.

Does it wobble when the cue is up and platter is spinning? If yes, could be from the motor of the table.

You get the idea.

Seems like there could be a few things going on with your setup, but I'm still a little unclear on the plane in which the cartridge is wobbling. You said "back and forth," but did you actually mean "side to side" as in sides of the cart moving up and down, like a row boat when you rock it? Unipivot tonearms are very susceptible to any type of vibration and are rather unstable by design; that sharp spike is the only point where the entire tonearm articulates with the base so the tonearm has nothing to provide stability to it. In ideal conditions, it is not a problem, but if your table is not isolated well, it will wobble. It's simply the nature of unipivot tonearms. I used to own a VPI Scout and now have the Classic, and the Classic, even though in a different league, is not immune to mechanical vibrations that cause the cartridge to wobble unless it's perfectly isolated. I live in an apartment building that has rather "live" floors that carry vibrations easily, and I noticed listening at night results in almost no wobbling whatsoever, but during the day the cart wobbles slightly here and there, but it does not affect the tracking ability or sound. If you don't have it already, I suggest putting the equipment rack on a slab of concrete (or 4 thick concrete tiles, about $2 each from Home Depot), then putting the Classic on a maple block and the block on 4 Isoblocks. It worked great for me.