The VPI Turntable Thread

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I'm taking a hard look at this one right now. Can get 25% off. Still bonkers but with a rebuild of only $500. My big concern is, will the company continue long after Ledermann eventually retires. Because if not that's a BIIIG output to then miss out on the cheap rebuild.
 
Mather said:
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I'm taking a hard look at this one right now. Can get 25% off. Still bonkers but with a rebuild of only $500. My big concern is, will the company continue long after Ledermann eventually retires. Because if not that's a BIIIG output to then miss out on the cheap rebuild.
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He definitely has a lot of trained staff who build these things, but the higher up the line you go, the higher the likelihood that it is Peter himself doing the rebuilds. I'm guessing the Paua is over that threshold. Have you considered one of the less insane carts? lol

I recently mailed my Zephyr MIMC 🌟 to @AnthonyI so he could do some testing against his Otello. I would not be opposed to having him ship it up north if you want to cover the cost and trial the damn thing.

(assuming he hasn't mailed it back yet!)
 
kvetcha said:
He definitely has a lot of trained staff who build these things, but the higher up the line you go, the higher the likelihood that it is Peter himself doing the rebuilds. I'm guessing the Paua is over that threshold. Have you considered one of the less insane carts? lol

I recently mailed my Zephyr MIMC 🌟 to @AnthonyI so he could do some testing against his Otello. I would not be opposed to having him ship it up north if you want to cover the cost and trial the damn thing.
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I appreciate the offer but I would be too terrified to mount anyone elses cart. The star is LIKELY what I would go with. But the discount on the Paua has me considering it. But yeah the rebuild and potential for company changes going forward is what gives me a bit of pause.

What are you running now instead of the Star?
 
Mather said:
I appreciate the offer but I would be too terrified to mount anyone elses cart. The star is LIKELY what I would go with. But the discount on the Paua has me considering it. But yeah the rebuild and potential for company changes going forward is what gives me a bit of pause.
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It has a stylus guard and it comes in a solid wood box. I'm not really worried. Think about it and let me (or @AnthonyI, as the case may be) know. I feel like a few days with it and you'll know pretty quickly if you want one.
 
Mather said:
What are you running now instead of the Star?
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I'm running an SAE 1000LT. I picked it up late last year while the Zephyr was being rebuilt (@AnthonyI was actually the first to mount and listen to the Zeph since then - thanks for the break-in!), and have enjoyed it enough that I was happy riding it out and then switching back when retipping time comes around. Basically, just alternate them until something breaks.
 
Mather said:
I appreciate the offer but I would be too terrified to mount anyone elses cart. The star is LIKELY what I would go with. But the discount on the Paua has me considering it. But yeah the rebuild and potential for company changes going forward is what gives me a bit of pause.

What are you running now instead of the Star?
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The Zephyr MIMIC Star is a great cart, I've made my conclusions as they pertain to me and what I'm looking for. I honestly wanted to avoid this discussion on the forum because sometimes it feels like we're beating a dead horse in terms of....
  • We all have different gear
  • We all have different rooms
  • We all have different ears
  • We all have different preferences
Unfortunately we can't demo everything, I'm extremely thankful to @kvetcha for lending me the cart to use. Long story short, I was more than happy with the Otello, no complaints, then got an "itch", no idea why, to make one last change/upgrade. @kvetcha had offered in the past and I passed, so I reached out to see if he would be so kind. Basically, I liked the Otello, so how much better would the Zephyr be? At $2k I wanted to be sure, even though the re-build cost is baller, the one thing that stuck with me was a comment when I bought the Otello, being, "The Otello is our warmest sounding cart". Great, I like warm, but does that mean the others get a little more analytical? Big price tag just to find that out.

I literally went about this this way, played two albums, swapped carts, played the same two albums again while they were fresh in my ears. After a few days of that and about 35-ish hours, I came to a decision. FOR ME, the cost wasn't worth the difference, the Otello was still warmer, the Zephyr had more dynamics, a bigger sound stage, but not jaw dropping................IMO.

My advice, even if it costs the shipping, try it out if you can only because of my bulleted list, if nothing else. They are all great carts, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, it's the price of entry that is a pain.
 
spydrwebb44 said:
I'll hopefully be able to share initial impressions of the Star on my Classic 3 by Sunday, provided I have no issues dialing it in properly.
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Yes please let us know. My main thing is I have to go a bit warmer than the 2M Black but don't want to lose the dynamics. The 2M Black combined with the Halo JC3+ means I'm running a wee bit high on the detail side which is totally awesome for about 2/3rds of my collection, but then skews a bit too bright for the other third.
 
Mather said:
Yes please let us know. My main thing is I have to go a bit warmer than the 2M Black but don't want to lose the dynamics. The 2M Black combined with the Halo JC3+ means I'm running a wee bit high on the detail side which is totally awesome for about 2/3rds of my collection, but then skews a bit too bright for the other third.
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Anthony is holding the Zeph until you make a decision. :)
 
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