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Swapping Tonearms on a VPI Aries- anyone?

Hi, I have a quick question about my recently acquired Aries. This applies to the original Aries, AND and Aries 3 owners. Read on for the full story.

Right now, I have a SME Series V with a Benz MC Gold, which sounds great. The only problem is, I have a lot of mono LPs that sound MUCH better with my mono cartridge (which has a 1 mil. tip).

With my trusty SME 3009 pre-improved, it was easy to swap headshells. Not so with the series V, as you know.

So, the original Aries has three screws holding the tonearm board down. My questions is, does anyone swap arms regularly on the their Aries? My worry is that constantly swapping will eventually wear out the three holes. If they were threaded, then it would be cool. However the original Aries has three long wood screws.

Now, the next part of the question. FedEx damaged my chassis, so they're buying me a brand new Aries 3 chassis, which, I've been told, has a slightly different armboard. Maybe the Aries 3 has threaded holes for easy armboard swaps?

In a perfect world, I'd use the Series V for stereo, then be able to pop the 3009 pre-improved on in a matter of minutes for mono LPs. (acutally, in a perfect world, I'd have 2 Series V's :-)

Possible?

Thanks!

-Phil
bassphil
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I would consider the possibility of having an outboard mounting arrangement for a second arm. That would seem to be a better solution than constantly changing arms. I would get in touch with Harry or others at VPI and see if anyone else has ever done this. Possibly Raul would have some ideas, he is the king of the multi arm table.
bassphil OP
13 posts
 
Hi Stanwal, thanks for the reply.

That would indeed be the best solution- I've been thinking about having a two arm table for years. I wonder if VPI would modify the Aries 3 chassis before they send it to me. Hmmmmmm.........

Who is Raul, by the way? Is that his forum name?

Thanks again!

-Phil
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
Rauliruegas, one of his tables has 3 arms and the other 4 arms. I always thought he should name the latter one "forewarned", because as we all know, "forewarned is forearmed". Just kidding Raul.
frogman
7,356 posts
 
I would contact VPI, and ask them to drill the plinth (chassis) for a second arm. I see no reason why it could not be done. They are willing to do that sort of thing. They built a custom flywheel for me at a very reasonable price. I would, however, encourage you to consider doing this to the original plinth. I don't know the nature of the damage to it, but if it is minor, and you can live with the cosmetic defect, it would not affect the resale value of the table in the future, as you would still have an intact plinth.
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