stiv@stat5.rice.edu (10/23/90)
I am considering two turntables, the VPI HW-19 Jr., and the Well Tempered Labs Record Player. To my ears, they both sounded very good. Unfortunately, I listened to them in two very different locations. The VPI was auditioned in a rectangular room with deep pile on the floor, and a comforter on the wall behind the speakers. The set up consisted of VPI Jr. with a Sumiko/Reference MMT arm, and an AudioQuest (?) cartridge (about $350, as I recall). The electronics were Counterpoint SA-5000 and SA-220, driving the big Merlins. Don't recall what the interconnect were, though they were audiophile grade. Most noticable faults were what sounded like lack of dynamic range on an old RCA LSC recording (van Cliburn playing Tchaik. #1), and occasional harshness on trumput from a Sebastian Whittaker LP (SB is a local jazz artist-one of the goals on the LP was to re-create the Blue Note sound-which they've done reasonably well in my uninformed opinion). Otherwise, very smooth and open sound, albeit a little bass heavy for my tastes, though this was only really noticable on the SB record with the kick drum. Sound staging was excellent, despite the slightly too live room, and had very good depth. It handled a very worn solo voice w/orch recording (Leontyne Price, Barber's Knoxvill: Summer of 1915) quite well-the voice was smooth and clear, w/only very occasional harshness. The WTL was auditioned in a cathedral ceiling living room, with other rooms opening off of it from the 2nd floor. The room had been treated a little better in terms of acoustics. Some problems were the presence of other speakers in the room, and I think that the speakers were placed too far apart (or, more likely, I was too close to the speakers-but I had no choice because of the position of the sofa). Equipment consisted of the WTL with an Alchemist IIb cartridge, Threshold FET-10 pre-amps and a big Threshold power amp, driving smaller Merlins. Again, I don't recall the interconnects, but they were audiophile grade. Again, a very smooth, detailed presentation. The soundstage lacked a little depth, but I would attribute this in part at least to the spacing of the speakers. The van Cliburn was much more dynamic on this set up-I should probably listen to the van Cliburn again on the VPI just to confirm my impressions. This also passed the worn record test very well. In short, I'm not sure which to purchase. I'll have to have my local better-than-my-ear person (my fiance-lucky me :-) check them out as well, but I'm interested in other people's opinions of these. The set-ups that I would actually purchase would be the VPI with either the AudioQuest arm, or the Sumiko FT-3, and Sumiko Blue-Point (The MMT has a removable headshell). The advantage that the Sumiko has over the Audioquest is that the Sumiko has a RCA termination box, so you can use your own cables from it to your pre-amp. Also there is an option for better wiring in the arm itself. An advantage that the VPI has is that there is a clear upgrade path from the Jr. to the Mk III. The WTL would be purchased with the Record Player arm, and a Sumiko BP cart. The WTL's arm also calls for the use of cables from a termination box on the deck to preamp. There is a less clear upgrade path from the RP to the more expensive ($1895 list) Classic (which used to be called the Turntable). The motors are the same, and the bearings are the same, but the plinth, platter, and spindle are different. I am, quite frankly, more inclined to purchase the WTL, because I like the dealer better, and I can get a better price on the WTL (at least for awhile) than on the VPI. For those who care, the VPI set up described above (with the more expensive Sumiko arm) is ~$1000, w/o the upgraded arm wiring and inter- connects, while the WTL set-up would be $890, w/decent interconnects. Any opinions? Thanks very much, david n stivers stiv@rice.edu
sl215067@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Richard Herren) (10/29/90)
I stopped working in the hi-end business about a year and a half ago, and have spent a total of no more than 15 minutes in hi-end stores since (for a variety of reasons), but I think I still have some valid opinion on this subject. When I left, the VPI jr. had just come out a few months prior. I almost bought one, but car repairs totalled my funds. I would still recommend the VPI over the WTL for the same reason I was interested--the upgrades. The audible differences between the two tables are slight, at best, and we can debate for weeks over which is better. But even an idiot (which you're obviously not) can install VPI's upgrades from Jr. to 19 III, if desired. This I considered as a big plus, because I knew I was leaving the business at the time, and I knew I didn't want to deal with a dealer any more than I had to (I found many high- enders to be less knowledgeable than they wished themselves to be-including myself.) At any rate, the eventual upgrade to a 19 III would have cost only slightly more than if I had purchased the III outright (this may have changed over time, but expect not by much). At least the deal beat out nearly every credit plan I'd ever seen. And to top the rest of this off, I've often considered the 19 III better than every table in its price range, and several others far above it (especially the Linn, which I also sold). Finally, the VPI jr. and the WTL were roughly the same market price at the time, at least in my location (Indy). You may want to check around and see if you can find a better deal on it...but like I said, it has been some time for me, and VPI may have gotten greedy. Incidentally, I thought you might like to know what else I liked, so you know where I stand. I REALLY like the VPI TNT turntable, but I don't like the instability of it's price (I've seen it go for $2900-4400). I also like Counterpoint's electronics, and Eminent Technology's tonearm and speakers. I never had the chance to sample dozens of cartridges, so I only have my ex-employer's choices to go by. Therefore, I won't mention them. As a service to me, please don't buy anything in Indy. Everybody here (in high-end) is a dickhead in the biggest way. I once thought that maybe I was the D.H., and everyone else was blessed, but several other acquaintences have backed me up on this one. Hope this helps. sl215067@silver somewhere at IU in bloomington