New VPI Tonearm

[MylesBAstor]

Available from Harry's Workshop, not being made by VPI.

[JCOConnell]

9", gimbal suspension, no antiskate, wires come out the bottom??

[MylesBAstor]

12-inch "ball race" bearing, removable arm wand.

[MylesBAstor]

Little earlier version vis a vis 11/15.

[nc42acc]

Looks like it will retrofit on the VPI adjustable VTA base. I heard the prototype compared to the uni-pivot last year at CAF. The bass is better. Wonder when and how much?

[MylesBAstor]

Looks like it will retrofit on the VPI adjustable VTA base. I heard the prototype compared to the uni-pivot last year at CAF. The bass is better. Wonder when and how much?

Yes, AFAIK, the arms are interchangeable.

I assume that Harry's new arm will be released shortly but they won't be mass manufactured like the other VPI arms. I'll see if Harry will comment more on his latest effort. One interesting feature is that despite the arm being a traditional ball bearing design, Harry came up with a unique way to allow for interchanging arm wands. I'll see if Harry will comment more on his new arm.

[Rust]

So it would seem Harrys "retirement" is more from the business side of things allowing him more time to play with toys in the shop. It would appear VPI has grown to the point where he could afford to "retire" as the principle head cook and bottle washer, and Matt stepped up to handle more of the tedious business side of things.

[MylesBAstor]

So it would seem Harrys "retirement" is more from the business side of things allowing him more time to play with toys in the shop. It would appear VPI has grown to the point where he could afford to "retire" as the principle head cook and bottle washer, and Matt stepped up to handle more of the tedious business side of things.

Sort of. The arrangement just allows Harry to work on his own terms. Harry is tinkering and making "small" scale products; if a product stays in production for a year, it becomes a VPI product. As Mat said, they are swamped with orders for their other tables like the Prime, Nomad, Classic and lately it seems the HR-X not to mention the 3D arms and can't concentrate on some smaller demand products say like the Avenger DD. Or this arm. But if it takes off, it might be a VPI product.

Of course, it remains to be seen what the addition of Mike Bettinger to the VPI team will mean to the product line. Sure he will contribute to the table's power supply and speed control but I suspect it goes further than that. Most likely it speaks to Mike designing some electronics for VPI.

[Rust]

Sort of like Nelson Pass side projects.

[JackD201]

It seems to be a trend. An "almost" changing of the guard where the sons and daughters are taking over the business side of things while the founders get to go what they love best, designing. Let's hope they've been able to pass everything on and then some. Seems the master-apprentice relationship with artisanal work continues in the west and not just the east.

[Guest]

... As Mat said, they are swamped with orders for their other tables like the Prime, Nomad, Classic and lately it seems the HR-X not to mention the 3D arms and can't concentrate on some smaller demand products say like the Avenger DD. ...

Any sense on how the Classic Direct is faring?

[Harry Weisfeld]

Thanks for the airplay guys, really appreciate it. I have been shoving one cartridge after another into the arm of a Scout JR. from the Atlas to the Ortofon 2M Red to a reborn ADC XLM (more on this later!) with very, very satisfying results, that lead me to the Lineage arm last year at Capitol Audio Fest which is a totally tricked out Scout JR. The sound of these arms is amazing, the oil bath turntable bearing for the lateral motion and the yoke design with captive bearings for vertical motion breaks up the resonance by over 3 HZ and damps it very well. This leads to a tape like solidity to the sound.

This new fusion design is an attempt at combining the 3D printed arm wand with the captive bearing/oil bath design at a less than mortgage the house price. It is clean, quiet, has amazing bass, and gives that fluid like reproduction that Myles and I love from all our tape listening. The armtube may or may not come out of the bearings for interchangeability but it does not matter because the entire arm comes out of the bearing well and you can change arms in 20 seconds!! I have 3 arms at all time ready to listen with the Zero, Hyperion, and a Purple Heart mounted and ready to go.

[Harry Weisfeld]

The Direct Drive is better than I ever thought, fully functional air suspension and now in the Avenger chassis in stainless steel with acrylic it just puts it over the top. So what will happen now, I don't know, but maybe class A++ will have to be created!!! I make two a month, that's it, so if anyone once one let me know there is a list. There is no table made today that sounds so much like a reel to reel tape it makes you dumfounded when comparing them.

HW

[ack]

What's this, a direct-drive Avenger? Do you have pictures and price?

[MylesBAstor]

What's this, a direct-drive Avenger? Do you have pictures and price?

http://www.audionirvana.org/forum/the-audio-vault/analog-playback/turntables/10314-peek-at-vpi-avenger-direct-drive-turntable

Not sure of the exact price but I think it's 40K. The motor alone from what I understand costs 10K.

[VPI]

Wow! I didn't realize Harry made an account! Harry pretty much said it all, with me focusing the company on the business side it has given Harry plenty of play time to invent and make new products. Its great to keep him busy and when something is polished and refined enough it can go into standard VPI production. The Avenger Direct is another item being personally made by Harry (though in that case he is using VPI resources). Someone on our forum described Harry as the "Shelby" to our Mustang!