How do you like your VPI -Classic, Scout, Scoutmaster, Prime, TNT, ?

Several years ago I picked up a Scout here on audiogon for 1 grand.  I wanted to try VPI and a unipivot arm.   I use it in my second basement system near my records so it gets a lot of play.  I am quite pleased with it running a Denon 103r.

captain_winters  so I take it that your $25k Spiral is just too far out of the park to compare but on the other hand you liked the VPI Classic. 


flatblackround - What arm length comes with the version you own. 
Thanks for the responses, both of you.

Since you asked, her are some very unique attributes to Spiral Groove SG2 with Spiral Groove Centroid Arm that really attracted my interest, and kept my interest for a number of years while I was looking to acquire one. I put in quotes words from Spiral Groove or other reviews that are not my words.
1. The design of the plinth. The feet, motor, platter bearing and arm mount are all isolated from each other by aluminum plates separated by Sorbothane pads. So any vibrations are damped.
Thanks
2. The platter bearing uses an inverted sapphire disc and precision ball bearing. The bearing includes a sleeve with three rings whose gap is machined to 0.0003" tolerance. So the sapphire disc presses against the hardened steel ball which is sitting in the bearing. The three bearing rings contact the sleeve. There is a pair of ring magnets at the bottom of the bearing sleeve and on the plinth which repel each other, which greatly reduces the weight on the bearing from the 22 pound platter. "Everything is in the same rotational plane, the middle shaft ring, the ball and disc contact point and drive belt. Therefore it is not susceptible to rocking or oscillation."

3. The spindle on the platter is NOT the bearing shaft like on almost every other turntable. The spindle is aligned to the platter and bearing to one center with very high accuracy. This prevents any noise from the bearing reaching the record. "Since the spindle is not in contact with the bearing and any noise is damped by the platter before reaching the spindle."
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4. "The 20 volt, AC synchronous motor driven by the outboard motor controller. The controller transforms AC wall current to DC and generates its own sine wave with switchable frequencies and adjustable phase to precisely control the motor. At startup the motor runs at full torque until it reaches speed when the current is reduced for smoother and quieter operation."

5. The 22 pound platter is made out of 4 materials. The top is graphite, then vinyl, then phenolic and finally the aluminum ring at the bottom, with groove for the drive belt. The materials of the platter damp any vibrations from the record and stylus from transmitting back into the stylus.

6. The uni-pivot Centroid arm bearing assembly consists of a single pin and cup. "The Centroid design puts the stylus tip and the single pivot point of the unipivot bearing on exactly the same plane, contributing elementally to the balance of the forces involved in the operation of the tonearm and drastically lowering the moment of inertia. "

7. "The patented counterweight takes further advantage of the unipivot design by being able to wrap down and around the bearing in a way that places the center of the arm mass, the centroid, at the optimal position in relation to the bearing. With the optimal placement of the centroid, and the pivot point and stylus tip in the groove being on the same plane, global moment of inertia becomes vanishingly low and the stability of the system in all planes is very high."

8. "The Centroid arm single bearing is composed of a complimentary set of Swiss sapphire jewel cup and bearing pin matched for “Zero Tolerance” precision. This builds upon a unipivot’s inherent advantage in providing a direct-coupled low impedance energy path from headshell to bearing for superior control of resonances."

9. "The design of the Centroid’s VTA adjustment mechanism takes furtheradvantage of a single point bearing by allowing for the raising and lowering of the arm without altering the relationship of the pivot point to the record plane."

10."The patent pending anti-skate system is equally unique. It may not be well known that skating force during playback is not constant. The design of the Centroid’s anti-skating force mechanism addresses this fact, in that it applies the exact inverse force to the skating force in order to position the stylus with uniformity in the groove regardless of its position on the record."

Some notes I made after my 2017 upgrade
The music comes out of pure blackness. The bass is super tight and punchy. Sound stage is outside the speakers. Music pace is perfect, very musical. Clearly an upgrade from my VPI Classic 3.

As an owner of my second VPI table I concur with the Captain's remarks about the Spiral Groove/Centroid combination. The best turntable I have ever heard. The combined effect of the design innovations present in that table/arm raises the performance to another level--beyond anything in a comparable package (size/cost) that I have heard.

I bought a Classic when it first came out and then traded it in for a Prime when it first came out. I believe VPI belt-drive decks are good but not great. The plinths are not a marvel of sophistication. VPI’s footers are very mediocre. The VPI unipivot design with the wire coming up out of the “bearing” housing is simply not wise.The arm is very prone to canting due to changing tension from the wire-even if you don’t twist the wire to obtain anti-skate. The rotating ring to adjust azimuth is terrible-coarse and not user-friendly. Most of the top cartridges just don’t sing with the VPI unipivot design. They can sound nice, but not at the true potential of the cartidge-I am talking the $1500 and up choices. When you have the pleasure of using a top tonearm you see the crude nature of VPI  unipivots. The adjustments are coarse and the small allen lockscrews are prone to stripping. I discovered the Reed 3P and it’s in a whole different world of ease of adjustment and joy to use. At a price, but life is short. I don’t mean to bash VPI-again they are good but not great. The sound character tends toward smooth but glossed over. You will never hear glorious soundstaging, dynamic punch, or detail retrieval with an under $5000 VPI unipivot deck imho.