SSM w/Rim Drive - Cloud 11 Vibration issues?

Hi Zenieth,
I also have recently changed to the rim drive and formerly used a cloud 11. Mine was called the cloud 11 when I bought it but now is called the Cloud 12. It is the two piece model with separtate motor platform. This two piece definitely won't work with the rim drive. If yours is a single piece it may work better but I suspect there will still be to much movement. Better to have a more solid and well leveled foundation. My solution was to order the master platform from Critical Mass Systems. Less expensive would be a three inch thick Maple platform. Chris at Timbernation.com makes these at very reasonable prices. As much as I like Vinh and his Gingko products, I don't think they were designed with anything like this rim drive in mind. I highly reccomend his dust covers if you don't have one already.
The softer feet that VPI will send will likely make a big differnce. I'm waiting for mine too. In the meantime on a reccomendation from Stringreen, I have attached adhesive felt pads to the motor housing feet to gain similar effect. This has helped already with mine as well as just giving the unit some run in time. I think the drive belt smooths itself out with use.
Mike at VPI told me they're working on a softer drive belt as well which will be available in a couple months at no cost to rim drive customers. This should make things even smoother. So for I am impressed with the grip and control the drive provides. Its more work to implement than the belts but I think it will be worth the trouble. I haven't enen been able to play music with mine yet because my GCPH is out being modified by Cullen Circuits.

Good luck and be patient.(The rim drive likes to barely touch the platter for best results. I've found that if my super platter spins just slightly longer than the flywheel on shut off but still starts up smoothly it work the best)

Stringreen,
It sounds as though the felt or sorbothane has pretty much smoothed your SSM out. Did you order a set of the softer feet or are you satisfied with what your using. Mike at VPI told me this week that they are designing a softer O-ring to use as the drive belt that should smooth out the drive even more with or without softer feet.

Dgarretson,

It sounds like noise has been the biggest drawback of any rim/direct drive mechanism. I don't know much about the Teres drive but I'm sure they've come up with their own set of solutions. I also feel that with the use of the flywheel the VPI has great potential to be a smooth and low noise drive system. Figuring out the optimal setup is the challenge as with anything else but I think the rewards will be worth the trouble. I still have my belts handy but I'm not planning on using them again anytime soon.

Zenieth,

My phono stage finally came in and I was able to play my system with the rim drive after having stabalized speed for about a week without music. The table sounds great with no indication that the rim drive is causing any problems or noise. Break in and attention to set up make all the difference with this drive. My guess is you should leave it on the granite. Mine's working great on maple while I wait for the Critical Mass platform to be completed.
I hope nobody has been discouraged from trying the rim drive by the dicussion of these "bugs". I can tell you they are minor and easily compensated for. If VPI does come up with a tweak upgrade or next generation I'll likely get in line for one. Until then it's really quite enjoyable as is.

My replacement feet arrived also and I would agree that they raise the motor higher than I would like. I tried them anyway and raised the table accordingly.(This may be easier for me since I have the mini feet) They do work well when set up this way but probably no better than with felt pads under the original feet. In fact, there may be a slight loss in livliness. It's a simple matter to switch back and forth if you're so inclined but if you're happy the with the way you have it, you may just want to leave it. I'm looking forward to trying the softer drive belt as this may obviate the need for softer feet.

If the noise seems to be coming directly from a motor it could be a problem with the motor. I think there's capacitor in the wire path to the motors that can drift out of synch somehow. Mike at VPI told me something about that. When you reverse the wiring it could introduce coginess to that motor. In that case, I'm sure VPI would send you a new motor. If the motor seems to be the source I would conact Mike. He would understand it a lot better than I do.
I would try to make sure that it's not drive belt noise by moving the motor assembly away from the platter. If your noise stops, try lighter conact of the drive belt with the platter and this will decrease or stop with time. Also you might try removing the belts from the motors and watching them run freely to see if one is more jerky than the other. Mine is running smoothly with barely notable motor and contact noise.
I hope this helps. I don't consider myself an expert on this, or anything really, but this is what knowledge I've gained from my experience so far.

Powerdoctor,

I like the Cloud products in many respects and I doubt there's a better guy in the audio industry than Vinh. However, I'm afraid there may be to much movement of the plinth-platter assembly when using the rim drive on these pieces. I didn't even try it with my 2 pieced unit. A one piece may work better but, based on Zenieth's experience, I doubt it's optimal. You could try it if Music Direct is willing to take a return. Something more solid like your granite is probably better(more solid isolation like Silent Running Audio, Critical Mass, Symposium, or even maple are other options) It seems like you need slight play in the motor housing but not the plinth(soft footers and in the future softer drive belt).
Once you get this thing set up and running you will enjoy it thoroughly. Have fun.