Agreed, an update here would be nice.
VPI Fatboys versus others in its' tonearm weight class.
In their never ending quest to push fiscally responsible audiophiles into bankruptcy, site members have succeeded in making me consider a new gimbaled tonearm to keep a Lyra Kleos company on a VPI Classic 2 turntable. Dover, on my previous thread, pointed out most other tonearm options would be limited on the Classic 2 short of major surgery to it. So here I am considering keeping the tonearm upgrade in the VPI family. Their gimbaled Fatboy, will readily fit onto the VPI Classic 2’s tonearm base without any fuss.
Here’s my question after reading up on the Fatboy. How does the Fatboy compare with other tonearms in it’s $4500 price range? Is it about average in that class, which would be acceptable, or is it much better or worse than its’ peers?. If you.ve had any chance to compare the Fatboy with other tonearms in the same price range, what is your impression? I don’t want to spend that much money on one if the consensus is that it’s at the bottom of its class, which hopefully it isn’t.
I haven’t had an opportunity to listen to one, or any other tonearm as expensive. I would likely need to arrange a two day road trip to accomplish that. In lieu, I’m soliciting your impressions as to whether the Fatboy is worth that much compared to others in it’s price range. I guessing it will be okay, but don’t want to spend $4500 if the consensus is it’s at the bottom of its’ class just because it fits easily on my turntable. So what do you think? I’m all ears.
I’m not looking here for alternative solutions to a Fatboy. That was the topic of my recent thread, I’m only soliciting your impressions of the Fatboy compared to other similarly priced tonearms, and why I should or shouldn’t take a chance on it. Thanks all,
Mike
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Just an update to mine which is that I'm now completely satisfied with this upgrade which was a 10" JWM uni to a 10" Fatboy gimbal. All the textrure and midrange "grittiness" is there now. I guess phono cable burn in is real?!? Whatever happened I don't miss my unipivot at all. I'm very happy with my TT/Tonearm and cart (Prime Signature / FB gimbal / VDH Crimson) - probably/hopefully for many years. |
I advised the OP @skyscraper before he upgraded the tonearm and cartridge to do it in steps and not to do both at the same time. His quote below is from another thread. I’m only posting this here because he never came back to this thread to let us know how it got on. Looks like he’s back to square one in trying to ascertain the value in upgrading the arm.
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FWIW, not only as an owner, but also because I have set up a couple more for others, the Fat Boy is quite a good arm. It sets up well, tracks well, and seems to work with a variety of cartridges. In that regard it is very similar to another favorite of mine, the SME V. Another that works quite well is the Triplanar, but it is more difficult to set up. End of the day though, any of these arms, at least of those that I have had a chance to work with so far, is a keeper. Oh, one more that impressed me as both an excellent performer and easy to set up is the one on the Rega P8. I also own SME 3009 Series II Improved and Series III arms, which of course are older designs and not as versatile as those mentioned above, but they are also quite good. Anticipating a question that I cannot answer is how to rank these arms. Each has been set up on a stand alone basis. Trying to compare them is any meaningful way is something I have never attempted. |
- 85 posts total