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I'd try to see whether you could use the same cart on both tables, maybe one that you are familiar with, and control variables as much as possible to really hone in on the differences between the tables. Bring a variety of LPs you're familiar with - of varying quality and genres too - to see how flexible the tables are.
Thanks for all the input. I think I will see what I can arrange as far as a true A/B comparison on the two units. Part of me likes the fact that the VPI offers so much in terms of adjustments and feels I might miss that on the WTL; the other part of me could easily see being driven to madness (or perhaps simply distraction) dinking with things endlessly instead of sitting back to music.Same story with upgrade path. Partly find great appeal in the honesty of a table that is what it is (and presumably made as well as it could be) and would be annoyed to plunk down that sort of cash only to feel like my table is somehow incomplete without, I dunno, a $700 stainless steel peripheral ring or a 3D-Printed tonearm... but then would I miss it? Impossible questions to answer!On that topic - I actually do like the idea of the ring clamp for some of my badly warped records. Does anyone use anything to flatten things out and how does the table do with it? As I understand it, the WTL does pretty well with warps overall, but still curious.Thanks again
Prior to the VPI I had an Acoustic Signature table with a Graham Phantom. I am completely happy with the WTL and amazed that such a simple light weight rig can sound so good.]
So I finally took a road trip to Atlanta, where (I must say) Alan at Audio Alternative was more than kind and accommodating, having set a VPI Classic 1 next to a Versalex, installed identical broken-in DV carts, leaving me only to sit in the sweet spot and swap records and decks to my heart's content.I immensely enjoyed both decks, and was a bit surprised, frankly, that choosing a "winner" was harder than I'd anticipated. They both sounded great. Those having commented above surely have better ears and vocabularies here, but what consistently stood out to me between the two decks is that, for all the additional detail the VPI seemed to pull from the records, it remained somewhat deader, restrained, and two-dimensional when compared to the WTL. Additionally, there were passages where it was clear that the VPI was letting me down, comparatively, in terms of capturing the tone of acoustic instruments - noticed most prominently when spinning Alison Krauss's So Long, So Wrong, where the mandolin sounded all cotton and catgut compared to the WTL's more true-to-life rendering. More involved funky passages from Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life were a bit of a mess on the VPI and vastly more enjoyable on the WTL, less...tedious. I enjoyed Pink Floyd's DSOTM more on the VPI, which also seemed to better resolve the in-your-face female voice on Gone at Last, from Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years. I eventually realized I'd stopped A/Bing the two tables and was just putting more vinyl onto the Versalex. All in all, clearly more open, "3D" and pleasurable on the whole than the Classic.So I will soon have an Amadeus GTA on the way! My excitement is tempered only by the sad fact that I've now blown my budget for the moment, and the Amadeus will likely stay (mostly) boxed until I can afford to put a suitable cartridge on it (also perhaps adding a SUT to my mm phono stage). Baby steps. Thanks to all on the forum for the advice, and, again, I can't say enough good about Alan and all the folks at Audio Alternative - total analog wonderland for those of us in the southeast and a total pleasure to spend the day with.
