"House sound" of VPI, Clearaudio, Rega, MH, etc.

Mgrif104,

As Piediper mentioned above, the amount you want to spend is a big part of the decision. For my money, and the solid "entry" level, it is hard to beat a VPI Scout. I have one with a Dynavector 20XL and my Hovland HP 100 and it sounds great! The Scout is fast, dynamic, and keeps your toes tapping! It is not the last word in detail or 'grunt' (bass and mid-bass punch)but there are several things you can do to improve these items. First, use a nice maple block or a Gingko as the base; both will improve the Scout. Second, get a better cartridge. The 20XL is very good at it's price point (about $600) but there are many other options that will improve the detail and thump.

Or, do like I did recently and upgrade to a VPI Aries 3...

In any case, you will not regret your move back into vinyl. Vinyl just sounds better than digital. I've heard a Scout completely slay a $6,000 "high end" cd player... In every category, vinly is just more musical and enjoyable..

In my opinion, the Aries 3 bests' the Scout in every way. Actually, I do not have the Aries in my rig quite yet; I just ordered it last week. My in-store listening eaisly convinced me that the Aries is much better overall. Also, I will have a Dynavector 507 MKII arm relacing the stock VPI unipivot. The combo between the Aries and the 507 is special. This combo gives a bigger, more defined, more detailed sound along with more layers, and provides an extra dose of thump and grunt over the Scout. The Aries with the 507 is several steps above the Scout in transparency and refinement.

Having said that, just about any decent table will kick the crap out of cd. The Rega's are all very good; but I liked the Aries 3 the best. I think the VPI tables will give you a 'bigger' sound and are more musical overall than the Regas, but you cannot go wrong with the Reags either; they offer a lot 'bang for the buck'!