VPI HW-19 Turntable

Hi

You may need a wall-mounted shelf but the HW-19 is rather big and heavy. My other thought is to mount the turntable in a sandbox which should obviously be 'decorated' and disguised as to its real purpose.

Mr Bojangles

Jazzbo said:

I am having problems with a bouncing turntable and tone arm whenever anyone walks across the floor. Everything is original on the VPI except the newer platter and record hold-down. Any suggestions please. Thanks for all input.

jazzbo

Click to expand...

I had a similar issue with my mkIII. Replacing the springs with VPI's Sorbothane pucks (from the jr) cured the problem and changed the sound, as well. The TT was more Rega-like in its speed and articulation. More upfront, less hazy. The soundstage, however, became noticeably more shallow and worst of all, motor noise was now evident. As in audible. I likely don't need to expand on the sonic drawbacks.

To make a long story short, I reinstalled the springs, but with a few twists (no pun intended). First, I cut a number of discs to match the spring perches from an old Oracle mat, and installed one between the base and the lower spring mount along with another on top of the spring assembly. Frankly, the effects of this were not drastic, but audible. It also occurred to me that VPI's spring arrangement isn't all that unlike a coilover suspension. As such, it can be tuned with changing the rates of the dampers (ie. the foam inserts). After playing around with a bunch of options, I settled on a combination of closed-cell foam surrounding a Sorbothane insert. For clarity, this is inside the spring.

To my humble ears this move retained the VPI's layering and its easy-going presentation, and added greater dynamic contrasts and a better sense of transient attack. No motor noise to speak of, nothing like before, and no bounce on shaky floors. HTH