There's a blog with a fellow that has a ton of 24/96 Vinyl rips that he's done himself. I don't know if I'm aloud to post a link to it though.Marv would it be OK post the link?
Marv here is your VTF scale:http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Professional-Stylus-Force-Tracking-Pressure-Gauge-Scale-Gauge-led-/261885061612?hash=item3cf990e9ecCan't remember where I read it but someone took one of these to work and tested it against a lab grade scale and it was accurate within 0.01g.Remember you need to measure VTF at the surface of the record so the actual tracking force using this gauge is going to be about 0.1-0.2g lower then what is displayed since the scale sits a few mm higher then surface of the platter + record. If you have a cart with really tight tolerances (like my Kleos which needs to be within 0.1g) you will need to rig yourself a platform next to the platter to get it perfectly dialed in. 2M Black is 1.4-1.7g so for a quick and dirty setting dial it in to just under 1.8g and you should be just about perfect.
The only other TT's that piqued my interest on the 'gon were the Nottinghams. For obvious reasons, they were local pickup only.The VPI actually caught me by surprise. I wasn't even aware of the Classic line, which evidently has been out for about five years now. This one was a local pickup in Pasadena. One owner. I lucked out.
I actually own this very scale. The Shure Gauge and the new Ortofon gauge are actually more repeatedly accurate IME.
Yes completely agree. I have one too as well as the scale that came with my Classic. Been meaning to order a DS-3 for myself. I figured I would throw out the $10 cheap and effective option first.
Funnily enough, the prior owner of my Ace Space 294 traded it in on a VPI Classic 3. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with VPI. I like listening to their tables, don't like using them. Mainly to do with JMWs, I'm just not a fan. Nottingham's arms are also unipivots, but they are definitely less fiddly. Now you need to get yourself a real Phono preamp. I'm a big fan of the Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ at under $1K. Lehmann's preamps are pretty good too, particularly the SE and SE II.
"...depth of the sound you get and the physicality of the listening experience." Couldn't put it better than that. A good way to describe this table. The opposite of STAX. Surprising how vinyl can slam more than CDs given much more limited dynamic range of ~60db of the former. That Phil Collins record was a real treat. I suspect that because of the format's restrictions (frequency response, dynamic range, noise) the mastering engineers had to work smarter (or simply work), thus the recordings ended up be better. The other possibility, however unpopular with the Hydrogen Audio crowd, is that digital just might, might be more flat sounding.
Phonostages, phono cables, table, arm, vibration control...it's a fun ride! Being a total electro mechanical sound reproduction method, there are many ways to optimize the sound to your OWN listening tastes.
If you're talking about PB, he severely frowns on people posting his site address on public forums, and it's one of the reasons why he's changed sites like 5 times already. I would advise against it.
