VPI Classic Signature
Turntable Manual
Setup and Instruction Manual
VPI Industries, Inc., 77 Cliffwood Ave. #5D, Cliffwood, NJ 07721
http://www.vpiindustries.com
Classic Signature Turntable Packing List
Classic Signature Chassis
HR-X Center Weight
Azimuth Rod
Gauge
Instruction Manual
Drive Belt
Power Cord (115V Only)
Alignment Jig
Platter
3D Tonearm
Serial #:________________
Date: ___
Final Check by: _____________________________
Important: Read Before Proceeding!
Follow the instructions below to reduce risk of electrical
hazard or injury.
Read and follow the Safety Instructions below.
Save all packing materials. The Classic should only be moved or shipped in
its original packaging to reduce the risk of damage in transit.
The Classic Signature must be placed on a flat, level surface. This will make
setup easy, provide better sound quality, and put less strain on the main
bearing.
Safety Instructions
1. To avoid electrical shock, do not open the motor cover.
2. If the power cord provided with the Classic Signature does not reach an
outlet, use a heavy-duty, grounded extension cord.
3. To avoid electrical shock, always plug the Classic Signature into a grounded
outlet.
4. Do not expose the Classic Signature to rain or excessive moisture.
5. Do not touch the male pivot point of the tonearm assembly. It is extremely
sharp.
Introduction
The Classic Signature turntable is a precision instrument. It has been thoroughly
tested and run for at least 4 hours. The speed accuracy, wow, flutter, and
rumble have been checked, and this unit meets all of our specifications.
Minimum Specifications
Wow and flutter Less than .1%.
Rumble Greater than 70db down.
Speed accuracy Within .1%.
Platter run-out - +/- .001 inch in 39” circumference as measured on
the table
Pulley run-out – as measured less than +/-.0005
Unpacking the Box
Complete and return the warranty card. The
warranty does not take effect until the warranty
card is returned.
The turntable and tonearm are packed very carefully to avoid damage during shipping.
It is important that you save the packing materials and boxes to use for shipping or
moving the Classic.
Set aside the bag containing the drive belt.
Remove and set aside the following items:
Alignment Jig.
Record weight.
Power cord.
Bag containing screwdrivers and screws for mounting the cartridge.
Shure Stylus Force Gauge
JMW-Classic Signature tonearm wand
Remove the large foam top packaging piece and place it on the side.
Make room for the turntable, it will be ready to place in its final destination
immediately.
Grab the turntable on the sides where the foam is cut out and lift straight up. Be
careful, the turntable is very heavy (40 pounds) if you need help, get it. Place the
turntable on a flat sturdy surface that will support the weight.
Lift the aluminum turntable platter from the smaller box, remove the plastic bag,
and peel off the tape covering the bearing hole. Be very careful not to hit or
damage the motor pulley when sliding the platter on to the spindle shaft. It
measured +/- .0005” when it was tested at the factory. Try not to disturb it at all.
The platter can be damaged if it is hit, be careful.
The paper protection on the platter can be used as a mat if you are not comfortable
with the record sitting on the bare aluminum platter. There is also a urethane mat
provided for those that must use a mat. We recommend bare platter listening but it
is an owner’s choice to decide.
Setting up the Classic Signature
The Classic Signature must be placed on a flat, level surface. This will make
setup easy, provide better sound quality, and put less strain on the main
bearing.
Place the turntable chassis on the shelf or stand where it will be used. The Classic
has very good isolation so it simply requires a good solid shelf on a rack that doesn’t
sway in the breeze. You can get very good sound by placing the Classic on a maple
butcher block board about 2” thick.
Carefully remove the platter from the smaller box and remove the tape covering the bearing
hole. The platter bearing is lubricated; no additional lubrication is needed for at least one
year. Slide the platter down on the shaft and spin it to make sure it spins freely.
Place the drive belt around the platter and around the pulley on the motor. The belt does not
have to be level on the platter. It will self-level when the platter starts rotating.
For 33 RPM operation, place the belt on the upper part of the pulley. For 45 RPM operation,
place the belt on the lower, wider part of the pulley. The center groove in each diameter is
usually the correct speed.
Connect the supplied power cord to the Classic in the fused rear socket. The fuse is 1 amp if
you ever have to change it.
Verify the turntable is level by using a 9- or 12-inch bubble level front-to-back and side-to-
side on the platter. If it is not level, rotate the Classic Signature feet up or down. If you must
turn the Classic feet more than three full turns, level the shelf or platform the table sits on
first.
The power button is on the left side, it is recessed for protection. Turn on the Classic
Signature by pushing the power button and allowing 3 seconds for the platter to get up to
speed.
If you bought the Classic with a Dynavector 20X Special or a VPI/Grado it was installed at
the factory and you simply have to drop the arm on the bearing assembly.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Be very careful when handling the tone arm. The internal arm wire is exposed at the
headshell and at the rear of the arm. The wire is very delicate and physical damage to the
wire is not covered by the warranty after the arm is removed from its box.
When you remove the black tube covering the unipivot male bearing assembly be very
careful it is sharp, do not touch it, you will get punctured or cut.
There are a number of setscrews on the Classic Signature Tone Arm. The Allen wrenches
To avoid injury, do not touch the male pivot point. It
is extremely sharp. In addition, skin oils can blemish
and cause corrosion to the assembly.
that come with your arm will only fit the setscrews that you will need to adjust. All other
screws are factory set and should not be adjusted, except by our trained technicians.
Resetting any of the factory settings is not covered by the warranty
Installing and Aligning the Cartridge
Remove the protective cover from the male pivot point on the arm base assembly.
For cartridges with threaded mounting holes, use the screws supplied by the cartridge
manufacturer. Other screws may not fit properly and may cause damage to the threads and
cartridge.
To avoid damage to the 3D tonearm, use one of the washers supplied by VPI under the
screw heads and do not tighten the screws too tight.
For cartridges with pass-through mounting holes, use the hardware supplied with the
tonearm. Be sure to use washers under the screw heads.
The tonearm wires are color-coded as follows:
Red right hot
Green right ground
White or Black left hot
Blue left ground.
If your phono section inverts phase, the hot color becomes the ground color.
Using tweezers or fine-tipped pliers, grip the center of the red wire’s connector not the
wire itself and push it onto the cartridge’s right hot terminal pin. Connect the remaining
connectors in the same way. To avoid damage to the cartridge, do not push the connectors
all the way on.
Place the Alignment Jig on the spindle with the V-groove against the base of the male
bearing shaft. Tighten the screws of the jig so it fits snugly against the male bearing shaft
and over the record spindle.
Place the arm tube assembly on the male pivot point, using caution with the 4-color wire and
Lemo connector. Set the arm in its rest. If the cartridge has a guard, remove it.
MAKE SURE THE MALE POINT IS IN THE CENTER OF THE FEMALE CUP, IT SHOULD FEEL SOLID
BUT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SLIDE IT SIDEWAYS AND THE ARM RAISES AS YOU GO FROM
THE CENTER TO THE SIDES OF THE FEMALE BEARING. IT IS AN INVERTED CONE.
FEMALE BEARING
Use the arm rest all the time when not playing a record!!
Line up the red dot on the Lemo connector with the red dot on the receptacle on the junction
box. The Lemo connector can plug in only one way and should not be forced.
Swing the tonearm over the jig so the stylus is as close as possible to the dot in the center
of the grid. Set the counterweight for enough downward force to keep the stylus from
moving when resting on the jig.
Look down at the cartridge and align it between the lines of the grid. You should have the
diamond stylus on the white dot and the cantilever lined up with the lines on the grid. Use a
flashlight to look from the front and line up the cantilever with the grid lines. That is the
only alignment that matters, the cantilever lined up with the white lines and the diamond on
the white dot. The angle of the cartridge is irrelevant.
Adjust the cartridge mounting screws and the counterweight as needed until the cartridge is
centered between the grid lines and the stylus is resting on the dot of the grid. The picture
below shows the setup, the jig is in white for clarity, yours is black.
When the cartridge is properly positioned, tighten the cartridge mounting screws and remove
the alignment jig. Do not make them overly tight, the 3D arm is self-damping and you can
damage the surface by over tightening.
VIEW OF CONICAL AND LINE CONTACT STYLI AND WHY ALIGNMENT MATTERS MORE WITH THE
LINE CONTACT.
CONICAL LINE CONTACT
Setting the Tracking Force and Tonearm Height
Tracking force is adjusted by moving the tonearm counterweight forward and back on its shaft.
If your cartridge is overly heavy and the counterweight is all the way back, you can order a
heavier weight from your dealer. Half way back is fine as is the middle third of the stub.
The JMW Tonearm does not have a built-in tracking force gauge but we have supplied you with
a quality digital tracking force gauge if we did not mount a cartridge for you.
Place the gauge on the platter (no record).
Loosen the two black thumb screws in the base of the tonearm and raise the arm so it
looks parallel to the platter when it is on the stylus force gauge. When the arm is at the
desired height, lightly tighten the thumbscrews.
If you do not make the arm parallel when doing this you will be between .2 to .4 grams
light or heavy when you are on the record. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!
Set the tracking force according to the cartridge manufacturer’s recommendation. We
recommend always going to the high side of tracking force. High frequency vibrations on
a light-tracking cartridge can cause more damage to the grooves of a record than
running a cartridge at a heavy setting. We usually recommend .1 gram higher than the
max tracking force if you are not using anti-skate (recommended way of setting). This
does not apply to Lyra cartridges that sound best at 1.73 to 1.76 grams tracking force
with or without anti-skate.
Put a record on the platter and using the VTA tower lower the arm so it is parallel to the
record. Now you will be tracking at the force you set and not a lighter force.
Setting the Azimuth
Using the supplied aluminum rod or a fireplace match or coffee stirrer (something light
and about 6” long) place one of them into the groove behind the mounting screws on the
tonearm headshell.
If it is not level loosen the thumbscrew on the drop counterweight and rotate the
counterweight around the shaft until the headshell is parallel to the record. Be careful not
to change the tracking force setting.
With the new 3D arm on the Prime you can also rotate the side weights for even finer
azimuth adjustment, this lets you leave the tracking force as set. You want the rod to be
parallel to the record.
Setting the Anti-Skating – Two Solutions
VPI does not support the need to have anti-skate but does respect the customer’s interest in
having it enabled. Therefore we provide a mechanism for anti-skate and the option of
engaging it.
For normal music listening all the anti-skate you need will be supplied by the lead out wire of
If you try adjusting the anti-skate with a groove less
record, you will ruin the twist in the tonearm wire
and void your warranty. Do this with the mechanical
anti-skate if you want that much anti-skate.
the tonearm to junction box unless you are using test records and measuring sine waves.
For music listening the push back of the wire is ideal for anti-skate.
We supply mechanical anti-skate for those who require it.
Playing Records
Before playing a record, make sure that both of the tonearm VTA thumbscrews are slightly
tight.
Press the power button on the motor. Sit down and enjoy listening to your records!
General Use
Allow at least 20 hours of break-in time.
The motor will make some low-level noise. This will not get into the system. The motor and
bearings will become quieter as you use your Prime. Place the motor on a mouse pad for
better isolation if this bothers you.
If you notice hum in the system, remove the turntable to phono section interconnects and
replace them with very cheap, standard VCR interconnects. These are well shielded and
should eliminate the hum. If the hum goes away, get quality, well shielded interconnects.
After at least one year of use the platter bearing should be re-lubed with PTFE super grease.
The motor will need to be lubricated with 1 drop of 40-weight motor oil below the black drive
pulley and right on the brass piece.
You can experiment with mats but you need to adjust the VTA setting when doing this.
Additional Items Available from Your Dealer
The VPI Synchronous Drive System power supply provides a major increase in musicality by
feeding the 300 RPM AC Synchronous motor with a pure sine wave of the frequency
selected. It is hundreds of times more accurate than the power company and will let your
motor run cooler and at the exact right speed from microsecond to microsecond. A plus is it
will allow electronic speed change and will count the hours of use so you know when your
cartridge is getting old.
Possible Problems:
Noise in the system, a hum or buzz:
o The answer is to ground the motor and system properly. A line filter that floats the
grounds will not allow proper grounding of the phono system, the phono system must
be grounded!!!!!! Phono is not like CD and if this is your first table or your return to
vinyl after a decade or so you must remember that phono amplification can be 1000
times higher than CD or streaming so any noise that gets into the system will be
amplified much, much more. Kill the noise with proper grounding and your system
will sound much better.
A pop on motor turn on or turn off:
o In some systems the phono section is not well shielded and will pick up the EMF
created by the switch opening to turn off the turntable. If you system is like that you
can get into the habit of muting (the preferred method as you should really do that)
or you can experiment with capacitors across the on-off switch. We supply the table
with a .001 microfarad cap, you can change it to a .01 microfarad cap and it may
eliminate to lower the problem to a tolerable level. BTW, judicious grounding will
many times solve this problem also.
Trembling of tonearm when playing records:
o You have a uni-pivot tonearm, it sits on one point and is constantly moving with the
record grooves; spiraling in and out as the record center changes and moving up and
down with minute warps. It is perfectly normal and inaudible.
Sibilance and distortion in both channels:
o Azimuth not set correctly or diamond stylus misaligned on cartridge. This is usually a
setup or cartridge issue, not a tonearm issue. It can also be caused by a tracking
force that is too light even if it reads correctly. Tracking force needed is determined
by the temperature in the room, below 70 degrees requires greater tracking force.
We have found almost all cartridges work and sound best at 72 degrees.
o A 60 watt light put above a turntable in a cold room will heat up the cartridge just
enough to make it much more compliant and track better.
o Before going crazy try a slightly higher tracking force, it usually solves all the
problems and zero in on the azimuth adjustment.
o Another possibility is probably not as bad as the next photo but will definitely cause
distortion and sibilance even in small amounts.
Distortion in left channel:
o Too much anti-skate.
Distortion in right channel:
o Too little anti-skate.
Noise at startup:
o We used to ship all tables pre 9-11 with talc powder in the bag with the belt. After 9-
11 and the Anthrax scares we discontinued this. If you get a screeching sound on
startup just powder the drive belt and you will be fine.
VPI Industries, Inc. Limited Warranty
VPI Industries, Inc. (VPI) warrants this unit against defects in materials and/or workmanship for three (3)
years from the date of purchase by the original retail purchaser. VPI’s sole obligation under this warranty is
limited to the repair or replacement, at VPI’s option, of any part(s) found to be defective. VPI’s obligation
to repair or replace defective parts is the purchaser’s sole and exclusive remedy, and VPI shall not be liable
for any direct or indirect injury and/or property damage arising out of the use of the product or defect in or
failure of the product.
This warranty does not extend to any unit whose serial number has been defaced or altered. Any product
that VPI determines causes a defect or malfunction due to incorrect installation, modification, misuse, or
servicing by the purchaser, or service technician not authorized by VPI to perform such service will not be
warranted. This warranty does not cover trivial or cosmetic defects that do not impair the unit’s normal
function.
VPI reserves the right to make changes in this product without assuming any obligation to install such
change in any product previously manufactured. This warranty to repair or replace defective parts is in lieu
of all other express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. There are
not warranties that extend beyond the description herein.
Some states do not allow exclusion of implied warranties or limitation of incidental or consequential
damages, so the above exclusion or limitations may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal
rights, and you may also have other rights that vary from state to state.
Register your Product Online:
http://vpiindustries.com/warranty/
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