VPI HW19 jr to mkiv
Stephen Murphy
Benz-Micro Glider cartridge and Anthem Phono PRE-1. This combination
is giving me a lot of pleasure, and I spend most of my listening time
playing vinyl. I am enjoying it so much that I am thinking of upping
my investment in my anolog front end. I am looking at upgrading the
VPI to Mark IV status, including the TNT Series 3 platter and "super"
armboard. Total cost $1440 US. I have a few questions about this
upgrade:
1. Has anyone else gone through this upgrade and if so, what were your
impressions?
2. Will the Rega arm work ok with the new table setup?
3. Is this the best part of the chain to upgrade or should I spend
the dough on a better arm or cartridge first?
Money is an object, so I can't go out and upgrade everything at once.
Many thanks and good listening,
Stephen
Fred Whitlock
affair some months ago. I'm sure you can find it in Deja News. To answer
your question, yes the Mark IV upgrade with TNT III platter is very
significant. It was a bit of an epiphany for me. I switched to a low
output MC cartridge and Krell KPE phono stage when the unit was still a Mark
III and I thought the Mark IV upgrade was every bit as beneficial. Good
listening.
Fred
AudioNow!
http://www.audionow.com
Stephen Murphy wrote in message <73cibq$m...@news01.aud.alcatel.com>...
John Mah
>
> I currently have a VPI HW 19 jr turntable with a Rega RB300 arm,
> Benz-Micro Glider cartridge and Anthem Phono PRE-1. This combination
> is giving me a lot of pleasure, and I spend most of my listening time
> playing vinyl. I am enjoying it so much that I am thinking of upping
Welcome to the wonderful world of analog! (and the painful world of
upgrading!)
> my investment in my anolog front end. I am looking at upgrading the
> VPI to Mark IV status, including the TNT Series 3 platter and "super"
> armboard. Total cost $1440 US. I have a few questions about this
> upgrade:
>
> 1. Has anyone else gone through this upgrade and if so, what were your
> impressions?
Unfortunately, I have not gone through this particular upgrade, nor am I
familiar with this particular table, other than listening to it
informally in stores. Check the archives of Deja-News or try posting
something to the Phonogram or Analogue-Addicts mailing lists.
> 2. Will the Rega arm work ok with the new table setup?
I presume that the answer to this is "yes", since I used a RB-300 on a
much more expensive (don't infer anything from this, though) VPI TNT Jr.
As others have pointed before me, the RB-300 is a great arm (and not
just "for the money").
> 3. Is this the best part of the chain to upgrade or should I spend
> the dough on a better arm or cartridge first?
Ahhhhh, the eternal question.
The Glider and the RB-300 work well together IMO. I speak from
experience having used those two components on a TNT Jr. as well as my
original Planar 3. The only arm I can think off the top of my head which
*may* be better at the [new retail price] sub-$1500 range is the RB-900,
although the improvement may be small. There seems to be a huge gap in
tonearm candidates between the RB-300 and the $2K tonearms, maybe only
2-3 widely-available arms that I'm aware of.
Unfortunately, I believe the answer can only be determined by trying out
the various permutations of equipment. This is where a good analog
dealer helps immensely.
Get thee to a knowledgeable VPI dealer pronto.
> Money is an object, so I can't go out and upgrade everything at once.
From what I understand you must do the Mk.III platter and the armboard
at once, since the new platter is higher than the Jr.'s platter,
requiring that you use the "super" armboard. I could be wrong though --
I'm speaking from memory rather than experience.
> Many thanks and good listening,
> Stephen
- John
David Morse
I have done exactly what you are considering. You will be surprised
that the best upgrade of all was the PLC line conditioner. It
created bass that was never there before. Second, I swapped an
audioquest PT-8 for an SME 309 which was a great upgrade. I also
bought a Clearaudio cartridge that I like very much. In all a
fabulous upgrade, but the PLC made the biggest difference.
Stephen Murphy wrote:
> I currently have a VPI HW 19 jr turntable with a Rega RB300 arm,
> Benz-Micro Glider cartridge and Anthem Phono PRE-1. This combination
> is giving me a lot of pleasure, and I spend most of my listening time
> playing vinyl. I am enjoying it so much that I am thinking of upping
> my investment in my anolog front end. I am looking at upgrading the
> VPI to Mark IV status, including the TNT Series 3 platter and "super"
> armboard. Total cost $1440 US. I have a few questions about this
> upgrade:
> 1. Has anyone else gone through this upgrade and if so, what were your
> impressions?
> 2. Will the Rega arm work ok with the new table setup?
> 3. Is this the best part of the chain to upgrade or should I spend
> the dough on a better arm or cartridge first?
> Money is an object, so I can't go out and upgrade everything at once.
> Many thanks and good listening,
> Stephen
Paul
>3. Is this the best part of the chain to upgrade or should I spend
>the dough on a better arm or cartridge first?
You are upgrading in the proper order: turntable first, arm second,
carridge third. A great arm is no good without proper foundation, and a
great cartidge is a waste of money without an equally good arm. Your RB300
will go along way, however, and maybe all you need, ever. But if you get
to "supertable" status (MkIV/SAMA/PLC/MC), you may want to get a more
sophisticated arm so as to increase your cartridge selections.
>Money is an object, so I can't go out and upgrade everything at once.
I have taken an alternative route to complete the MkIV upgrade that might be
good for some VPI owners. I eventually want to end up with the complete
MkIV with PLC, SAMA and state-of-the-art arm and cartridge, but like you,
money is an object, and I am doing it slowly. Since my audio rack sits on
a concrete slab (basement room), I was less concerned with floor movement
than motor vibration. I decided to make improvements in a different order.
Instead of adding suspension first, I added a PLC (fantastic), MkIII platter
(good) and a SAMA (amazing) to my Jr. The platter dropped right into the
Jr. bearing assembly, and I have completely isolated the motor from the
plinth by using the SAMA, so the springs are less necessary. I plan to get
the rest of the MkIV upgrades later, but the deck is sounding mighty fine
as it is now! Interesingly enough, it was a tech at VPI that sent me along
this path instead of buying the complete MkIII or MkIV upgrade. They are
great to talk to and will give good advice for your particular situation.
There was a great article called "Tour de France of VPI Upgrades" or
something like that a few months ago on this newsgroup. It was the story of
the "normal" upgrade path for the HW19 and written very well.
Paul
bar...@usa.net