I also would have voted for the TNT over the Scout.
No you wouldn't if you heard them side-by-side
No you wouldn't if you heard them side-by-side And the C3 may beat them all
Really? I owned a Scout that I bought brand new and sold it to buy a TNT. I didn't think there was any comparison.
Come to think of it, I never have heard them side by side in the same system. Actually now I am wondering if I found the TNTs superior not because of the plinth, feet and bearings but because Scouts I've heard have JMW9s and the TNTs 10.5s or 12s. I attribute my HRX being better than my Aries 2 to the flywheel (Then the Super Platter pushed it up another level). My stand was always too far for feedback to have been a problem. The bigger question is, how about a Scout vs a Super Scout Master?
I second Docvale on EMT but make mine a 950.
I'd also throw in the Goldmund with the automatic linear tracking arm. I have a friend with Parkinson's and this table allows him to keep spinning without having to make sonic compromises.
No fair! The RSSM is a sawed of TNT. The only scout left in it is the footprint!
That was always an option since almost day one. Harry always referred to it as the "hot rodded" version. As in most things in high end audio, simpler is best. Of course the penalty is that one is wedded to one arm.I have to admit that I find it hard to understand and keep up with the philosophy that is guiding VPI’s designs. Harry seems to be all over the place. We went from separate armboards to drilling holes and mounting the arm straight to the plinth.
We went from outboard motors to multiple outboard motors to rim drives with fly wheels back to a table with the motor built into the plinth. Many thought that the Classic was the best sounding of all the VPI tables and at the time, the price was super reasonable. Of course now we are on revision 3 of the Classic and the price has shot through the roof.
Well, which is the preferred way to drive the platter on a VPI table now?? Is it with no rim drive, no flywheels, and just mounting the motor straight into the plinth and driving the platter directly from the motor via the belt?
Rim drive without question. You'll probably see a rim drive for the Classic if everything works out by CES.
And the rim drive is actually a flywheel as it is driven by two motors on each side of the rim drive. If you note, all the "all out" VPIs use the two motor drive system with a flywheel. I think if HW could, he'd have a platter the weight of the mastering lathe
So how is Harry going to implement rim drive into the Classic? And doesn't that negate the benefits of having the motor mounted into the plinth and then make the table not the "Classic" anymore?
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