VPI 40th Anniversary Table After Warranty Support Question


Hey guys. I am new here and I wanted to bring up a "thought question/experiment". While talking with a friend about turntables, I brought up the new VPI 40th. My friend mentioned a few interesting points that made me think before jumping on it.

The main question is "What will the after warranty service be like?". Will VPI continue to support this table after the 5 year warranty and for how long? This product is a limited run item so it brings up the question of will there still be parts or replacements for it after 6, 10 or even 20 years? Would it even make sense to stock extra direct drive motors for that long? Would there be applicable "aftermarket" options?

We can reference the Traveler turnable, which started selling in 2012-2013 but discontinued not even 5 years after, as a cautionary tale. Other members on this site have tried to get their Traveler tonearms repaired through VPI only to be told that they cannot be fixed because there are not replacement parts to fix it.. A replacement "used" arm would cost $500, almost the same amount as the resell value of the table itself. This also shows a severe depreciation in value (about 50% drop from MSRP) for the Traveler. In a broader light, are people still able to acquire parts, like the bearing, at a reasonable price for older tables (HRX, TNT, Aries, Classic, HW-19 or HW-17/27) from VPI?
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/vpi-turntable-repair

The other question refers to the reliability of the table. Even with a 5 year warranty, nobody wants to have to use it. VPI is pretty well known for "1st gen" problems. Easy examples are again the Traveler, but also newer products like the ADS,the Nomad, and even the Prime tables. And a constantly revolving issue is the 3D tonearm, with the most recent issue being leakage.
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9674
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10772
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/need-help-and-advice-on-a-vpi-3d-arm

With a limited run table like the 40th, it would be pretty costly to redesign a V2 version. Have they performed an extensive quality check? Or will problems start to arise 1 year after? And if problems can hold out past the 5 years, how costly would it be to the user? Or would there be no parts for it?

Similar, but obscure discussions were brought up about the Voyager Preamplifier, which I have only seen article reviews of but no customer/ end user feedback. Any information on is also limited to 2017, nothing in 2018.
http://vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9514

So what are your thoughts on the new VPI turntable?



magmadster
magmadster, Seems you are dreaming bad dreams about problems that are yet to happen.  This leads to inactivity and paranoia.  Enjoy the here and now and trust that tomorrow will take care of itself, or not.  If you consider this hobby a form of investing, you are in the wrong hobby. On the other hand, we have people like me and several others here who have purchased 30 and 40 year old turntables with no hope of aftermarket factory repair, and yet most of our turntables are up and running.  After all, it's just a motor and a platter.  What's the worst that could happen?  Or was this just an opportunity to vent about some real or imagined issue with a Traveler turntable?
Vpi has always bent over backwards to help me. They have sent parts to me for a HW19 and an Aries 1 and not charged me a dime. Both of these in the last couple years making both tables 20 years old, give or take. Dealt with Harry both times, once on the phone and once through e-mail. If I were in the market for a HW40 these things you are speaking of would be the furthest thing from my mind.
In 1986 I bought an HW-19 Turntable and an HW-17 record cleaning machine.  The turntable has needed only routine lube for the bearing and the occasional belt.  The record cleaning machine needed service due to operator error (that would be me using too much cleaning fluid) about 30 years ago.  It has been fine ever since.  VPI sponsors a very helpful forum that you might want to visit on their website where you will get an idea of the kinds of questions and issues that owners share.  VPI is a great little company.  I also own a Prime and am happy with it too, as well as a Technics SL1200GAE, which is also excellent.  You can't go wrong with any of these.
VPI support is outstanding.  I have a Classic 4 and love it with the 3D arm which was an easy retrofit for me to perform.  I consider myself a loyal VPI customer.  They have earned it!