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Swapping Tonearms on a VPI Aries- anyone?

Hi, I have a quick question about my recently acquired Aries. This applies to the original Aries, AND and Aries 3 owners. Read on for the full story.

Right now, I have a SME Series V with a Benz MC Gold, which sounds great. The only problem is, I have a lot of mono LPs that sound MUCH better with my mono cartridge (which has a 1 mil. tip).

With my trusty SME 3009 pre-improved, it was easy to swap headshells. Not so with the series V, as you know.

So, the original Aries has three screws holding the tonearm board down. My questions is, does anyone swap arms regularly on the their Aries? My worry is that constantly swapping will eventually wear out the three holes. If they were threaded, then it would be cool. However the original Aries has three long wood screws.

Now, the next part of the question. FedEx damaged my chassis, so they're buying me a brand new Aries 3 chassis, which, I've been told, has a slightly different armboard. Maybe the Aries 3 has threaded holes for easy armboard swaps?

In a perfect world, I'd use the Series V for stereo, then be able to pop the 3009 pre-improved on in a matter of minutes for mono LPs. (acutally, in a perfect world, I'd have 2 Series V's :-)

Possible?

Thanks!

-Phil
bassphil

Showing 3 responses by bassphil

bassphil OP
13 posts
 
Hi Stanwal, thanks for the reply.

That would indeed be the best solution- I've been thinking about having a two arm table for years. I wonder if VPI would modify the Aries 3 chassis before they send it to me. Hmmmmmm.........

Who is Raul, by the way? Is that his forum name?

Thanks again!

-Phil
bassphil OP
13 posts
 
Stanwal- I like the saying :-)

Frogman- good point. The original chassis basically has a few dents on one side, and a bit of a crushed corner on the other. Nothing that effects the sound or function, but damage that FedEx is responsible for (they left the box lying in water somewhere along the line, which compromised the packaging).

I'll ask VPI what they think about it. I would think that a factory two-arm Aries 3 would actually be more valuable in the long run...

I think I'll also ask them if maybe they could make threaded holes for the tonearm bolts. That would be the path of least resistance. I wouldn't mind swapping arms if I didn't have to worry about eventually stripping the mounting threads.

Thanks guys!
bassphil OP
13 posts
 
I like the VPI arms for that very reason, though I've never heard one before. I have an SME series V currently.

Actually, I had another idea. I could just buy some feet for the Aries 3 when they ship it to me and set it up next to the original Aires that has the cosmetic damage. I'm parting out my old HW-19 MK4, but I guess I could keep the aries platter that's on it. That way, I could have a stereo Aries with the series V tonearm, and a mono Aries with the 3009 pre-improved. Then, all I would have to do is move the SAMA from table to table :-)

Still, I'd rather just switch arms if VPI can find a way to make that easy for me...
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