A reasonable expectation for a 30k buck-ish turntable is that it kicks butt sonically and be a polished design significantly more robust, well built and problem-free etc than lesser priced 'tables. Anything less than Ferrari performance coupled with "Rolls Royce-like" construction with rigorous quality control backed by customer support and a service department closer to Nordstroms than to Goodwill's approach does not make the cut.
Some responders to this thread mentioned performance and quality issues with VPI products of which I've also experienced. I've received new products that were poorly built. I've experienced ineptitude & indifference without urgency to rectify their mistakes. Instead of having systems in place for QC, repairs, & support they seem to function on the wing-it principle.
Ive had 2 similar issues separated by a bunch of years. Such as a new product that was defective from the start. VPIs initial attempt to fix this was to send replacement parts that did not function correctly. I waited many weeks to receive replacements to those replacement parts. Those too did not function correctly. Then they said to return the defective product. Finally weeks after receipt VPI stated they'd send a NEW product. But they sent a USED one.
During the entire process, which took months, I was without a working product. The delay was exacerbated by the left hand being unaware of what the right hand was doing, for instance a service person declared the repair completed without knowing the extent of the problems that required repair. I received an apology which was nice but some of the issues they apologized for were different from ones I had.
Of course anything is possible. Still it seems remote that VPI can create a turntable that meets expectations of 30k buck-ish ones as so many changes are required including fundamental aspects of how this company operates.
