VPI Direct Drive Turntable

Sarcher30, as far as I'm concerned anyone purchasing a 'table costing upper four figures or more shouldn't have to ask for that, even across the country, because I'm old school and consider anything less a deal breaker. Nice to know Steve does that.

From what I have heard the Classic Direct will not be the only VPI to use the direct drive motor.

Hiho, Thanks for the reminder, I guess. I had forgotten that Art Dudley, of all people (because I generally respect him and believe him to be a good writer), is one of those who has perpetuated the "big lie" about DD turntables. You would think he'd know better. Meantime, he is in love with his TD124, which requires BOTH a belt AND an idler to drive its platter, the worst of all possible worlds.

I agree with the many who have said that for $30K, there are other tt's I would choose over the VPI Classic, most especially any one of the Steve Dobbins "The Beat" iterations. In fact, I'd rather have my SP10 Mk3. But the marketplace will ultimately determine whether VPI made a wise move in naming, pricing, and choosing build materials for the Classic DD.

Lewm, yeah $30k is a lot of money and there seems to be a few more options in that range and I really think VPI made a marketing misstep. Since I can't afford products like that, I am mainly curious about the technology. I'm not sure you've checked out my _P_O_S_T_ from few days ago about VPI using THINGAP motor. Check it out. The Classic Direct uses the same brand of motor in the Continuum Caliburn and said to be truly "cogging free." The stator design is fascinating.

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Yes Lewm the market will determine the fate of this 30 G entry however ,..

Let's say Winfelds costs per motor and power supply with bulk pricing is somewhere in the $5000.00 region .
Now here's the kicker,..

$6.00 for the MDF per unit ,
sealer and paint another $6.00 per unit.

5/8 aluminum plate that's glued to the MDF , $15.00 bulk price per sheet,
machining the aluminum platter lets say $500.00 , "Aluminum ",not stainless steel and copper or some custom blend of materials that you would expect on a table at this price point.

platter bearing $150.00 again nothing special I suppose , I'm sure he has cases of platter bearings in the stock room and finally shop labour per unit $1,000 to $1,500.00 before going out the door and I think I'm being pretty liberal with the shop estimates.
$ 30,000.00 ,...come on .
This is new territories for VPI , I wouldn't imagine anyone in their customer base would jump in and buy one no matter how brand loyal some of them are. Maybe stick with what you know best VPI .