I'm not sure there is any utility to threads like these. While I own a VPI Aries 2, it has seen many upgrades any there have been so many revisions to peripherals, that any comparison becomes virtually impossible. For instance, even if you were to consider the stock Aries, there is the cartridge to consider, the tone arm cable, the base the table is sitting on, whether the table is properly leveled; has the user optimized VTA and VTF; the phono preamp; interconnects; power cords; power conditoner; quality of AC coming into the house/apt; room acoustics; genre of music, preamp; power amplifier; tubes (if not SS). Truth is, it would be hard enough comparing two of the same tables in different settings let alone one table to another. I guess if you compared the two tables, VPI and Raven One in a controlled setting, in the same room, on the same platform, with the same tonearm and cartridge and run through the same electronics and same cabling, playing the same source content, the comparison might hold some validity, but of all the "this vs. that" threads we see on this site, how many have been conducted where the variables have been minimized?
That being said, I am sure both of these tables are wonderful feats of engineering and one can and should be completely content with either one of them. If you add to the foregoing the psychological affect of defending your own sizeable investment, you can see that other than the entertainment factor, there is really little to be gained by these threads.
