Very nice table, but cannot help to consider that many used tables are now going to go down in price when you look at the value of the VPI Prime turntable. Should prove to be very interesting.
Be well...
OP is aware of the situation and is advised to negotiate accordingly. You might be overestimating the impact, I'm not sure. Prime will go up to $3800 in 2015. The 3D arm will come down in price because of less overhead. BTW some 3D owners are pissed. Their investment is being devalued.
Prime is still a Scout with what looks like a Classic platter. Cool looking table, but it doesn't have the build quality of the more expensive VPI. Have you ever played with an SL-1200 ? It's a competent table. Have you ever compared it to an SP-25 or SP-15 in a different plinth? The SP-25 guts are identical to the 1200. The SP-15 is similar w/separate power supply. Either one will outperform the 1200 if mounted in a high quality plinth.
I've seen photos of a 1200 with exotic arms, even SME V. Would this outperform an SP-25 with SME lV ? Because this analogy is imperfect the answer is not relevant, but the concept is.
I have an old Sota Sapphire with a subchassis made out of MDF. After many years it's warped and needs to be replaced. I'm not going to waste my time and replace it with another piece of MDF. There's a performance issue here and MDF is an inferior material. This doesn't exactly translate to VPI either. We're not talking subchassis, it's a thicker piece - the whole chassis. MDF is not as rigid and doesn't dissipate energy like stronger materials or combinations. There's a difference between damping and dissipating which is very similar to the difference between a 1200 and an SL model with obsidian plinth.
How much better is Prime than Classic? Either one beats a broken RP1.
neo
