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that hail from analogue’s heyday.
Likewise, there are still seriously
expensive designs that employ the
approach but that merely underlines
the precision, cost and effort it takes
to get around the associated problems.
Instead, we see designs from
Clearaudio, Kuzma, Amazon, Verdier,
Project, Well Tempered and VPI which
all employ the simplified approach.
Don’t they suffer from motor
noise contaminating the
signal they produce?
Yes they do, to varying
degrees, but it’s a problem
that can be mitigated by
today’s improved isolation
platforms and motor power
supplies. And they all benefit from
dramatic improvements in speed
stability and dynamic range, as well
as other things we’ll get to.
But the other thing that
I realised was even more
interesting. Out goes the
old in comes the new. But along
with the departing thinking go all the
associated rules. We always used to
spend the lion’s share of the budget
on a turntable, followed in turn by the
arm and finally the cartridge. The Rega
RB300 already put a dent in that theory,
but remove the expensive suspension
and the complexity that entails and
you’re really starting to go places. Given
the stability possible from a basic solid
plinth, just how good an arm can you
sit on it? Enter then the VPI Aries Scout
turntable and JMW 9.0 tonearm, an
£1100 combination that burns half
the budget holding the cartridge up.
It’s a proposition that would have been
completely unmarketable a few
years ago.
Of course, there’s more to the
Scout/9.0 set-up than that. Harry
Weisfeld has been making turntables
for far too long to miss a trick. Having
said that, the original impetus for the
design came from this side of the pond.
VPI’s Dutch distributor, Johan
Bezem of Audio Classics,
wanted something
that embodied the
ease of set-up and
compact practicality
of the Aries in a
cheaper package. It
goes without saying that
he also wanted to maintain
as much of the Aries’ performance
as possible. We’ll see in a moment
whether or not the Scout meets that
stiff brief, but in the meantime we’ll
see how Harry set about it.
No prizes for guessing that the
basic structure remains the same. The
Scout uses a solid plinth, isolated on
four conical feet, the motor mounted
in its own separate housing. Although
the plinth is thinner than that on the
Aries, it’s still a pretty substantial lump,
constructed from a sandwich of 30mm
MDF with a slab of steel bonded to its
underside. That creates a self damping
combination, the glue acting as
a constrained layer. The conical feet
are mounted on threaded posts
allowing for levelling. In the Scout
these dispense with the compliant
mountings of the Aries, seating instead
against delrin discs. The feet themselves are more than simple
aluminium cones, each being
87
VPI Aries Scout Turntable
and JMW 9.0 Tonearm
by Roy Gregory
EQUIPMENTREVIEW
It suddenly occurred to me the other
day that the world has changed.
Gradually, bit by bit, without you even
noticing, the status quo is overturned
and things just aren’t what they used to
be. You wake up and realise that some
self-evident truth that you’d always
taken for granted was simply no longer
the case. It can come as quite a shock.
I mean, who would ever have thought
the day would come when serious
turntables used anything other than
a suspended sub-chassis? But the truth
is plain. There are plenty of new
turntable designs hitting the market,
and fewer and fewer of them employ
a floating sub-chassis. Instead, the
new hegemony revolves around solid,
damped plinths with motors placed
in separate mass loaded housings.
It’s not hard to understand
a sprung sub-chassis and you
are using that suspension
to isolate the stylus record
interface from vibrational energy
emanating from the motor. This is
unquestionably a good thing. However,
it has its down sides too, most notably
the poor coupling between the motor
and the platter leading to lousy speed
stability and limited dynamic range.
Of course, when that was all we had,
we knew no better, but once CD came
along, especially once we actually
got it to work, suddenly poor speed
stability and compressed dynamics
were only too obvious to all who
heard them. From that day onward,
even though we didn’t realise it, the
classic three-point suspended turntable
was a dying breed. They still exist, but
for the most part they represent designs
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tipped with a ball bearing. However,
like all such arrangements it’s best to
leave the cones screwed tight against
the plinth, levelling the supporting
surface instead. The other major cost
saving on the deck itself is the platter,
a simple solid acrylic disc rather than
the mass loaded composite TNT III
platter employed by its dearer cousin.
The Scout uses the same standing
bearing design.
In the name of simplicity (and in
line with the TNT Hot-Rod) the Scout
also does away with an armboard,
the tonearm mounting directly to the
plinth. It’s cheaper and more rigid that
way. Cannily, the cut-out will accept
a Rega arm as well as the company’s
own JMW 9.0, designed to use the
same geometry as the popular budget
design. One last thing that needs
mention is the turntable’s excellent
black satin finish, preferable if anything
to the piano
black of the more
expensive model.
For once, appearance hasn’t
suffered in the cost cutting
exercise. The Scout is a classy
looking beast whose presentation
belies its budget price.
A major slice of the Aries price tag
is accounted for by its inclusion of the
complex, excellent but expensive JMW
10.5 uni-pivot tonearm. Essential
in reducing the overall cost was
a simplified version of the arm, so out
went the intricate micrometer VTA
adjustment, replaced with a simple
post and socket arrangement of the
type that’s been deemed acceptable on
British built tonearms for years past.
Gone as well is the concentric damping
bath that surrounds the arm’s pivot
point, along with the complicated
machining necessary to produce it.
What stays is the bearing itself, the
tonearm structure and excellent set-up
tools. The counter-weight moves on
a tight thread, making downforce
refreshingly easy to set accurately,
while the low-slung eccentric mass that
surrounds and stabilises the bearing
housing makes azimuth equally easy
to adjust (helped by the horizontal
rod that’s provided to sit in the lateral
groove across the headshell).
The most controversial aspect
of the JMW design remains.
Following Harr y’s “simple is better”
mantra, bias is applied by the
tension in the twisted lead-out wire as
it loops to the plinth mounted terminal
block. It’s an arrangement that drives
purists and technocrats crazy.
It certainly works on my
JMW 12.5 and I’ve
noticed no
deleterious
wear or stylus sag
in any of the cartridges
I’ve been using. The arm that arrived
for review was the first produced,
but full production versions will also
feature the Lemo connector between
the lead-out wire and the terminal
box, allowing owners to swap whole
tonearm assemblies (although not
correct the VTA as on the more
expensive models). It’s an impressive
list of attributes, especially at the price,
but then any arm that is going to
survive needs to better the redoubtable
Rega RB300 in terms of both sound
and facilities.
I’ve been using the Lyra Helikon
mounted in an Incognitoed RB300 on
the Clearlight Recovery for some time.
With CB reviewing the Helikon SL
I borrowed his standard version and
mounted it in the Scout. It made for an
interesting comparison. Bear in mind
also that the Recovery is the very same
set-up that favourably impressed the
assembled
populace at our Manchester show
comparison between SACD, DVD-A and
LP. It’s a turntable that majors on natural
colour and perspectives. Well, playing
the Classic Records re-issue of the
Dvorak
Cello Concerto (Piatigorsky,
Munch and the BSO LSC-2490), the
baby VPI combination couldn’t match
the superb midrange palette or low
level resolution of the much more
expensive Recovery. However in other
important regards it was able to match
or better it.
Let’s start with the soundstage,
always a VPI strongpoint. The Scout
projects a wider and much more
coherent soundstage, especially
laterally and vertically. (The tendency
to clump images around the speakers
and drop the bass lower in the soundstage are known RB300 shortcomings.)
The heavy bass bowing that underpins
the opening of the first movement is
better defined, with better shape and
texture and far more energy. It also
separated the timp rolls from the
bowed bass arpeggios that reach
a climax just before the entry of the
EQUIPMENTREVIEW
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solo cello. It imbues that crescendo
with greater drama and impact,
conveying the depth and complexity,
the range of instrumental forces
employed. Piatigorsky’s instrument is
bigger, more dimensional and placed
slightly further forward. It’s full of
vibrant energy and purpose, the
virtuosity of the playing plain
to hear. In fact the whole
sound could best be
described as big and full
of controlled energy. It’s a
sound that will be familiar
to anybody who has heard
one of the bigger VPI turntables:
It’s a sound that runs through the range
of JMW tonearms: It’s a sound that gives
you the shape and flow of the musical
dynamic. It’s a sound that I once
described (in reviewing the original
TNT) as meaty, beaty, big and bouncy,
and I find it remarkable that a ‘table
that uses such different technology
and materials can still display such
a heavy print of the company DNA.
What I also find fascinating is
the sophistication of the musical
presentation. Using the JMW 12.5
on the Recovery tells me where that
internal intricacy comes from. The
impressive thing is the extent to which
that capability is embodied in the
cheaper arm and released by the
simpler deck. What is more, further
experimentation with the Clearaudio
Accurate Power supply confirmed that
the basic platform embodies serious
further potential, just waiting to be
unlocked. And the really scary bit is
that even in this form the Scout would
still only set you back around £2K.
Of course, VPI produce their own
turntable power supply that would
also do the trick, and expect a range
of other hop-ups such as an add on
fly-wheel to appear in short order.
Of course, the Scout/9.0
combination isn’t perfect. It lacks
the air and soundstage volume of
a turntable like the TNT, the definition
of the space between and around the
instruments. It also has a lighter overall
balance, something effected by the
surface on which it stands (and one
of the variables introduced by a solid
plinth). But at the price it presents
a broader bandwidth and greater
energy and drive
than anything else out
there, which combined with the
spatial evenness and inter-instrumental
sophistication of the tonearm makes it
a powerful contender.
Take this player’s sense of musical
shape and substance and add its
considerable organisational and
rhythmic coherence and it’ll come
as no surprise that it excels when
it comes to reproducing vocals,
especially multiple voices or duets.
Ray Charles and Betty Carter (DCC
LPZ-2005) proves the point. Okay,
so there’s some loss of texture and
inner detail compared to the best,
a smoothing and rounding of syllables,
but if anything it makes the musical
lines flow even clearer, making their
interlocking patterns even more
explicit. The result is both expressive
and involving.
The bottom line? The VPI Scout/
JMW 9.0 turntable takes what analogue
does well and by reassessing its
engineering approach and budgetry
allocation, brings excellent performance
down to a new price level. It’s a case
of carefully blending the sonic
strengths and mechanical simplicity
of a solid plinth and separate motor
assembly with the balance, refinement
and expressive sophistication that come
with a better arm. It’s a combination
that offers even greater musical value
from your investment. High definition
digital formats might be making all the
noise, but on this evidence turntables
are doing music better and cheaper
than ever. VPI are offering you
a triumphant example of simple
engineering
delivering musical excellence. It also
offers a clear and cost effective upgrade
path. What more can you ask for?
At this price, absolutely nothing!
EQUIPMENTREVIEW
89
Type: Belt drive, solid plinth
turntable and uni-pivot
tonearm
Speeds: 33 and 45 RPM
(+ optional 78)
Clamp: One-piece screw down
Tonearm Length: 230 mm
Effective Mass: 8.7 g
Output: 2x RCA phonos
Lid: Optional extra
Dimensions (WxHxD): 483x178x330mm
Weight: 14 Kgs
Finish: Satin black
Price: £1100
UK Distributor:
Cherished Record Co.
Tel. (44) (0)1579 363603
Fax. (44) (0)1579 363604
E-mail. email@cherished-record-company.co.uk
Manufacturer:
VPI Industries Inc.
Net. www.vpiindustries.com
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
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