New VPI 3D Arm


At last I have the arm in place and set up - though I think the tweak adjustments are still far from done. I had in place a VPI 10.5i arm with a Benz LPS, on a Superscoutmaster/Rim Drive with Bearpaws in place of the original VPI mini feet. The rest of the system is an Ayre K1xe preamp with their phono board in place, an Ayre V1xe amp, and Vandersteen 5A speakers. I set the new 3D arm with a MINT protractor, and a Fozgometer. The arm was sent to me with a standard rear counterweight of 120 grams that included a Soundsmith Counterintuitive to ease the setup. How Nice I said to myself, however, Harry himself recommended a 200 gram counterweight because my cartridge was so heavy. The new weight was sent to me, without the Counterintuitive...when I inquired why not, it seems that the C/I wouldn't fit the larger, heavier counterweight that was needed for my cartridge. So..off I go to set up the new arm. Let me tell you the setup is the clunkiest, most time consuming, most exasperating work, I have ever tried. I just gave up after many hours, and contacted VPI to vent. Harry told me that if I oiled the inside grommets of the rear counterweight, it would move much easier/smoother....and so it did, however, I would grade it as a D+...better than the F before, but not good at all. When moving the counterweight it still gripped the tonearm make any kind of precise movement a matter of luck. Harry told me he was working on (almost done - ready to market in about a month) a new counterweight system that would permit easy fine tuning with no problems. I suggest anyone who is about to get a 3D arm to insist that the new counterweight be included with your purchase. Harry promised me one of these, and I will report on these pages when I get it and how well it works. Anyway...probably most of you want to know how the new arm sounds. I must remind you that the arm is still new and really not tweaked to the nth degree. My first album told me immediately that this arm was completely different than the 10.5i (which I think is a great arm when set up correctly). The music from the speakers with this arm is completely relaxed....that hits you in face immediately. I'm not sure I can explain it further then "relaxed". When playing Paul Simon's new album with the 10.5i, I had to strain to hear the words to the tunes....which was odd to me since Paul's prowess as a poet is hard to criticize. With the 3D arm, the words and Paul's talent is completely exposed. Instruments are much more rounded and in their own space - individually...as in real instruments playing. Right now, I would describe the low end as a bit weak, however, the cables are not broken in yet, and back end of the arm just may be too high. After all of the aggravation and hours of setup, I'm not ready to adjust anything yet...just want to rediscover my vinyl. This is a work in process, and I will post again.
128x128stringreen
For this money one could buy Triplanar or Graham or Reed or Dynavector or whatever.
Why inferior vpi?
Maxh, 3 good friends have gone through similar situations, one of them going on for months and months. Amazingly, the only one of them who posts on this forum is very hesitant to chronicle his long saga with VPI for fear that they will recognize his post and punish him by never clearing up the situation. He needs it fixed so he can sell it. A shame a company can get away with this.
Kiddman, With rapid communication through the internet, I think companies are going to have to pay a bit more attention to customer service.
And why would I punish anyone for wanting their system to work. Bruce, thank you for letting me know about this thread, the funny part is I was in the middle of fixing some of these problems before I know they existed. I'm not going to fight you guys, I just want you to enjoy your tables and your experience. Clearly we haven't accomplished that with everyone and I'm sorry that is the case and would love to rectify that. We are a small company that has grown to a very large one in a short period of time. We are trying to meet all demands and yes we have hit problems that were unexpected. We don’t want to leave anyone high and dry.

Bifwynne you nailed it, “Sometimes their bent on innovation gets in the way of taking care of the little things that make such a difference.” That is so true, we have been tied up with the Nomad at the entry level point (I know entry level is still expensive at $1,000 but we did the best we could) while still expanding on the high-end at $30,000. Also, all of this is still being made in America. We are bent on innovation because this industry is exciting and there is always something new that we can try to achieve and bring to our customer. If we fail we will fix it… if might take longer than expected but it will get done and you will get quality!

Good news is the angry emails and this thread has led to me taking a closer look at the arm and the counter weight. The weight initially came WITHOUT the counter intuitive, however, since it was difficult to adjust we ADDED the Counter Intuitive and it SHOULD come on all 3D arms (that being said Harry does not use the Counter Intuitive but Harry has set up arms on a daily basis for 35+ years). To show how serious I am about this and upset about the bad taste this has let in everyone’s mouth I have thrown out all of the counter weights that do not fit the Counter Intuitive so my guys on the floor can’t possibly make this mistake. Also, if your 3D arm counter weight did not come with the Counter Intuitive let us know and we will take action because that is what you deserve.

Hiendmuse, the reason yours didn’t go out today is because it was yours that I noticed this problem with. I asked my build guy on the floor where the Counter Intuitive was and he said they don’t fit…. WTF! So you will be getting a proper counter weight with the Counter Intuitive. (I’m not totally sure who you are since I had emailed 3 different people at 2:30 in the morning about the 3D).

Judyazblues, I’m going to bite my tongue and just say you’re comments were rude. Despite your foul attitude I’d still buy a drink and invite you to listen with us at the factory because that is the type of people we are.
Mystery Person, please let me know what the issue is I promise we won’t punish you!

Maxh, sorry to hear you’ll be leaving the VPI family I hope we can either fix your experience or have you join us again down the road.

Also, so everyone knows this isn’t just for the forum I have posted the following to our facebook page. (link below)

https://www.facebook.com/vpiindustries/photos/a.10150518506800918.372190.313369810917/10152234620880918/?type=1&theater

Email us at sales@vpiindustries.com and we’ll be looking.

Thanks! -MW