VPI turntables

The new Prime 21 is at least $5500.00. When I bought my Prime with the unipivot arm ( worst tonearm ever) it was $4000.00 without cartridge. I went to the new Technics SL1200G for four thousand. I love it. I think you saw it in my system the last time you came up. If you do get a Prime, I would go with their newer gimbaled arm, it should be a lot less fussy.

I wouldn’t classify the unipivot arm as the “worst ever”. Far from it. Yes it is fussy but once set up, it’s amazing IMO. You might consider the used market. That’s what I did and got a great deal on a Prime. Maybe you can benefit from someone mistakenly thinking it’s the worst. Their loss could be your gain.

On my VPI tables I notices the biggest improvement was in the tonearms.  The basic platform is good, but the the unipivot tonearm is their weak link.  I tried a 12" Jelco TK-850L arm and experienced a significant improvement.  The gimbaled arms that VPI offers have been reported to be a significant improvement as well.

The SS cartridges are nice, but moving to a gimbaled tonearm will make Lyra carts sing with the right setup.  .  

When I bought my VPI it was way up the chain. It is the HW-40 which is direct drive and has the 12" gimbal arm. I have the Ortofon Cadenza Black and cannot be happier with the setup.

I am one of those former VPI users, never quite did it for me, move from 9" to 10.5i arm not big deal. My issue is belt drive not for me, so DD VPI would be more aligned with what I'd do, and move away from unipivot.