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Seeking to upgrade from my Prime Scout turntable

I currently have VPI Prime Scout entry level turntable with a Dynavector 20X2-H/L cartridge. My dealer recommended the VPI Prime 21 which retails for $5500.00. Does anybody own the VPI Prime 21, and do you believe that I would notice a positive difference in sound quality that is worth the upgrade? Any thoughts would be appreciated. The rest of my system consists of Vandersteen 5A loudspeakers, h Thor Audio TP-150 mono block power amplifiers,(just replaced 16 tubes, 8 per side with Mullard New Production el-34 tubes and am pleased with the sound.) The rest of the system is a Thor Audio Linestage and a Thor Audio Phone stage, and a Marantz SACD player. All of the Thor components sound great, but noteThor went out of business many years ago. I mentioned my system as it is highly resolving so I figured a turntable upgrade may be noticeable in a positive way. Thank you. 

kjl1065
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,911 posts
 

Biggest pain with the VPI unipivot arm is the counterweight. It’s not threaded and not aligning it perfectly will mess up azimuth - it’s bottom heavy and leaning it very slightly is the end of it. Luckily after remembering some guy’s mother multiple times, I was able to dial mine in pretty good. Sounds amazing and I love it. I have a Prime X with Hana ML. 

tablejockey
4,403 posts
 

"Biggest pain with the VPI unipivot arm is the counterweight."

audphile- you're not  using the SS Counterintuitive? Get one if not.

Mandatory to keep sanity while dialing in cartridge.

 

 

cdhumiston's avatar
cdhumiston
44 posts
 

I purchased this one with a gimbled tone arm and a Hana Umami Blue cartridge and I love it. I did not want to mess with that uni-pivot at all. It was set up and tested by the dealer before shipping to me. The setup at home once it arrived was a breeze.

 

VPI Super Prime Scout 21 Turntable w/ 10.5" Tonearm & VTA On the Fly – Upscale Audio

bimmerlover's avatar
bimmerlover
156 posts
 

Does anyone love unipivot tonearms?

If anything, they seem to conjure up constant frustration by their owners from what I have heard and read, so it seems to be a generally good idea to try to stay away from them.

If nothing else, that seems to be a pretty solid reason to upgrade the turntable.

johnss
680 posts
 

with phono playback, all the gain happens with the phono pre. Anything you can do to lower mechanical noise and electrical noise should help. Have you considered a better shunyata cord on your Thor phono stage?

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