shaizada
500+ Head-Fier
Hey folks,
I simply had to make a post about my experience so that others that may be on the line about this have another viewpoint to consider. I was using the rubber washer and the Delrin/Steel screw down clamp and thought the sound was excellent. However, I wasn't very happy when I saw the unipivot arm bounce up and down on any vinyl that was somewhat wavy. My cartridge has tracked EVERYTHING that I have thrown at it but that movement was always disconcerting.
Recently, I acquired a periphery ring and weight for my analog setup (VPI TNT-V "Hot Rod", JMW 12.5, Clearaudio Accurate Cartridge, Einstein "Turntables Choice" phono stage). Took the washer out as it is not supposed to be used with the weight and ring combination. Here is what happened:
- Bass lines came through completely delineated, clear and with proper presence
- Vocals were rendered even more realistically with excellent attack and decay. Words seem to start more naturally and end more like a person singing in real life. It's hard to explain, but there is more "humaness" in the voices.
- Transients are just SPOT on. How a note or brush stroke starts, does its pleasantries and hands of to the next note is just a thing of beauty.
- Vinyl surface noise was decreased by a VERY large factor. Those clicks and pops have pretty much been eliminated in my setup. This just lets you hear much more into the recording. Really, one can go over his vinyl collection and try to rediscover more hidden gems buried in the music.
- Every nuance and subtleties in between different masterings and pressings are just crystal clear apparent now.
- SDS Speed didn't have to be adjusted as I checked with a Digistrobo and the speed remained spot on. I was expecting to bump of the frequency because of the added substantial weight. Not the case with me.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
We spend so much money on so many things to ring out improvements in the system. Sometimes we get small improvements, other times mediocre and other times quite large. Hec, many times spending more moves us backwards in sound quality and enjoyment. Thats happened to me so many times, but with that experience I learnt so much about what generally works or doesn't work. In fact, I've made myself approach this hobby with a COMPLETELY open mind as there are so many surprises to uncover. You never know what will happen with any delta in the system at a given point.
With that said, the periphery ring and center weight should be at the forefront of any VPI turntable upgrade path. In fact, I would rate it higher than the SDS if you had to choose one for the sonic attributes it brings about. You just can't judge what a cartridge or tonearm is doing in the setup if you aren't able to allow the amount of information and the way it is rendered to fully develop. The VPI ring / Center weight combo does this and gets out of the way. My only complaint would be the extra time it takes to put it on or take it off...but who are we kidding? For this kind of sound, I can travel to the moon and back if I had to between songs.
FINAL VERDICT: Buy it NOW. This is a must have for the VPI owner if you don't already have it.
I simply had to make a post about my experience so that others that may be on the line about this have another viewpoint to consider. I was using the rubber washer and the Delrin/Steel screw down clamp and thought the sound was excellent. However, I wasn't very happy when I saw the unipivot arm bounce up and down on any vinyl that was somewhat wavy. My cartridge has tracked EVERYTHING that I have thrown at it but that movement was always disconcerting.
Recently, I acquired a periphery ring and weight for my analog setup (VPI TNT-V "Hot Rod", JMW 12.5, Clearaudio Accurate Cartridge, Einstein "Turntables Choice" phono stage). Took the washer out as it is not supposed to be used with the weight and ring combination. Here is what happened:
- Bass lines came through completely delineated, clear and with proper presence
- Vocals were rendered even more realistically with excellent attack and decay. Words seem to start more naturally and end more like a person singing in real life. It's hard to explain, but there is more "humaness" in the voices.
- Transients are just SPOT on. How a note or brush stroke starts, does its pleasantries and hands of to the next note is just a thing of beauty.
- Vinyl surface noise was decreased by a VERY large factor. Those clicks and pops have pretty much been eliminated in my setup. This just lets you hear much more into the recording. Really, one can go over his vinyl collection and try to rediscover more hidden gems buried in the music.
- Every nuance and subtleties in between different masterings and pressings are just crystal clear apparent now.
- SDS Speed didn't have to be adjusted as I checked with a Digistrobo and the speed remained spot on. I was expecting to bump of the frequency because of the added substantial weight. Not the case with me.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
We spend so much money on so many things to ring out improvements in the system. Sometimes we get small improvements, other times mediocre and other times quite large. Hec, many times spending more moves us backwards in sound quality and enjoyment. Thats happened to me so many times, but with that experience I learnt so much about what generally works or doesn't work. In fact, I've made myself approach this hobby with a COMPLETELY open mind as there are so many surprises to uncover. You never know what will happen with any delta in the system at a given point.
With that said, the periphery ring and center weight should be at the forefront of any VPI turntable upgrade path. In fact, I would rate it higher than the SDS if you had to choose one for the sonic attributes it brings about. You just can't judge what a cartridge or tonearm is doing in the setup if you aren't able to allow the amount of information and the way it is rendered to fully develop. The VPI ring / Center weight combo does this and gets out of the way. My only complaint would be the extra time it takes to put it on or take it off...but who are we kidding? For this kind of sound, I can travel to the moon and back if I had to between songs.
FINAL VERDICT: Buy it NOW. This is a must have for the VPI owner if you don't already have it.
