SETUP MANUAL FOR THE
ARIES 3 TURNTABLE WITH
CLASSIC 3 ARM
READ THIS MANUAL VERY CAREFULLY
NOT FOLLOWING THIS MANUAL WILL VOID YOUR
WARRANTEE
VPI INDUSTRIES INC., 77 CLIFFWOOD AVE #3B,
CLIFFWOOD NJ 07721
www.vpiindustries.com
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THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR NEW
ARIES-3 TURNTABLE IS TO PLACE IT ON A FLAT LEVEL SURFACE.
IT CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH THAT A FLAT SURFACE WILL
MAKE SETTING UP YOUR NEW ARIES A SNAP.
THE STANDARD ARIES-3 REQUIRES A SPACE OF 22” X 16” FOR
ITS MAIN FRAME. THE ACTUAL FOOTPRINT OF THE ARIES-3 LEGS
MEASURES 19” X 13”
SPECIFICATIONS
YOUR NEW ARIES-3 TURNTABLE IS A PRECISION INSTRUMENT. IT HAS
BEEN THOROUGHLY TESTED AND HAS BEEN RUN FOR AT LEAST TWO
HOURS. THE SPEED ACCURACY, WOW, FLUTTER, AND RUMBLE HAVE BEEN
CHECKED AND THIS UNIT HAS MET ALL OUR SPECIFICATIONS.
MINIMUM SPECIFICATIONS: WOW AND FLUTTER – LESS THAN .02
RUMBLE – GREATER THAN 80 db DOWN
SPEED ACCURACY – WITHIN .1%
TOTAL WEIGHT – 60 POUNDS
PLATTER RUNOUT - +/- .001 INCH
INSTRUCTIONS FOR UNPACKING AND SETUP
If you are reading this manual, you must have opened up the main
turntable box. In this box you will find the main ARIES-3 chassis,
tonearm, and all tools needed. Remove all packaging, noting how it fits
together. If you ever need to send the Aries 3 back for service you must
pack it properly. Save the packaging if you can, it will be very expensive
to order it later.
If you ordered the JMW-10.5i Memorial tonearm with your ARIES-3, the
tonearm is packed in this box and should be removed carefully. The base
of the tonearm is mounted directly to the ARIES-3 Solid Delrin tonearm
board, follow the directions for the JMW-10.5i Memorial tonearm and
carefully set up the cartridge.
If you ordered the ARIES-3 cut for another tonearm, follow the tonearm
manufacturer’s recommendations for proper setup. Remember that
cartridge setup is a complicated but satisfying endeavor. If you take your
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time and protect the stylus you will ultimately be rewarded with a good
sounding unit that you will not be afraid of working on.
Before lifting out the main chassis, remember that the feet are attached
to the bottom of the unit. Do not put the unit down on any furniture that
could be damaged by these feet. Remove the protective bag and set the
ARIES-3 chassis down and center it on the shelf it will be resting on.
Lift out the platter and pull off the tape covering the spindle hole.
Carefully place the platter over the spindle and let it slide down. The
platter bearing has grease in it so none is needed at this time. The
ARIES-3 needs no lubrication for at least one year. A Chrome hardened
ball running on a large Teflon surface takes the weight of the platter.
This requires no lubrication to perform its task.
Spin the platter and see if it feels like it is running freely. If all is okay
and the platter feels free but not loose proceed to the motor.
Open the 12X12X12 box and place the motor in the circular cutout to the
left of the ARIES-3 chassis with the switch facing left. Center the motor
in this cutout with roughly a ½” space between it and the chassis all the
way around. The motor needs no lubrication at this time and should be
relatively noise free. It was just shipped and will be much quieter after a
few hours running.
Remove the drive belt from the bag and place the belt on the small pulley
groove and around the turntable platter. The drive pulley is designed for
33 and 45 operation with the smaller section being 33 and the larger
section being 45. The motor pulley of your ARIES 3 is designed to let you
slightly adjust the speed at 33 and 45. The center groove on the pulley
in each diameter is the correct speed. If you need to increase or
decrease the speed slightly you can move the belt up or down for fine
adjustment. Most people will just leave it on the center groove and never
worry about it. If you hear any noise when starting the turntable put
baby powder on the drive belts.
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Level the turntable using a 9” or 12” long bubble line level placed next to the
spindle on the platter. The feet rotate in their sockets and will move up and
down allowing fine leveling of the ARIES-3. A level turntable will always
sound better than an unleveled one and will put less strain on the main bearing.
If you need to remove the armboard you should use the 9/64” Allen wrench
supplied.
THE CLASSIC 3 TONEARM
A NEW BASE HAS BEEN DESIGNED FOR YOUR TONEARM. IT
WILL SUPPORT THE ARM AT THE VTA TOWER AND AT THE
CUEING MECHANISM. THIS SUPPORT GIVES THE ARM MUCH
GREATER RIGIDITY AND PROVIDES DEEPER TIGHTER BASS
RESPONSE.
THE ARMS NOW HAVE THUMBSCREWS INSTEAD OF SET
SCREWS FOR EASIER SETUP AND ADJUSTMENT OF VERTICAL
TRACKING ANGLE (VTA, SRA)
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
NOT FOLLOWING THIS MANUAL WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTEE.
FAILURE TO SEND IN THE WARRANTEE CARD WILL VOID YOUR
WARRANTEE.
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 Nordost
Valhalla wire is very delicate and physical damage to the wire is not
covered by the warranty after the arm is removed from its box.
Please do not touch the unipivot bearing parts. Finger oils on the bearing
cup in the upper bearing housing or on the lower pivot point in the arm
base assembly can cause blemishing of the bearing and possible
corrosion. Also, the point is sharp, be careful.
There are a number of setscrews on the Classic 3 Tone Arm. The Allen
wrenches 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.
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UNPACKING YOUR JMW MEMORIAL TONE ARM
This instruction manual was lying on a large foam pad. Remove the pad
and put it nearby on your work surface.
You will now see a number of things in plastic bags:
Allen wrenches for cartridge mounting and fine VTF adjustment
Hex nuts, and washers (for cartridge mounting)
Arm mounting and alignment tool
Damping fluid
Take all these items out and set them aside. Be careful with the damping
fluid. It should be kept sealed until it is used.
You can now see the arm tube and counterweight, with its delicate
Valhalla wire and Lemo connector, and the arm base assembly. If your
arm is pre-mounted on a tone arm board, remove the small foam piece
covering the "front" of the arm board. Set it aside with the other packing
material.
Now, here's the hard part. Leave the arm tube and arm base assembly
where they are -- safe in their packaging.
A. CARTRIDGE MOUNTING:
Remove the arm tube from the box (taking special care not to strain or
damage, the delicate 4-color wire and Lemo connector) and place it right
side up on the foam pad.
FOR CARTRIDGES WITH THREADED MOUNTING HOLES:
Use the screws supplied by the cartridge manufacturer to mount the
cartridge. Any other screws may not fit the thread properly and may
even damage the threads and cartridge. USE ONE OF THE SUPPLIED
WASHERS UNDER THE SCREW HEAD.
For all cartridges with pass through mounting holes use the hardware
supplied with the arm. Remember to use the washers under the screw
heads to prevent damage to the finish on the JMW arm. In this step, the
connectors will be attached to the cartridge's terminals. Disregard the
color of the insulators on the cartridge clips.
THE COLOR CODE OF THE WIRES IS AS FOLLOWS:
RED = right hot BLACK OR WHITE = left hot
GREEN = right ground BLUE = left ground
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IF YOUR PHONO SECTION INVERTS PHASE, THE HOT BECOMES
THE GROUND COLOR
The arm tube should be on its side on the foam pad when doing this.
Using tweezers or fine tipped pliers grip the center of the red wire's
connector (do not grip the wire) and push it onto the cartridge's right hot
terminal pin. In the same way, connect each of the remaining connectors
to its respective cartridge terminal. Do not push the connectors all the
way on, as this could damage the cartridge. Always back up the cartridge
with your finger when pushing on the clips.
The Classic 3 tone arm comes with one large dropped counterweight
installed on the rear shaft of the tonearm. For most cartridges you will
only need this large weight. The counterweight is held in position by a
setscrew.
Pick up the arm tube, taking care not to strain or damage the fine 4-color
wire and Lemo connector.
For now, position the large counterweight as close to the bearing housing
as you can (toward the front of the arm) but not touching the balance
ring. The object here is to balance the arm while keeping the
counterweight as close to the bearing housing as possible. This results in
the least inertia for a given cartridge weight.
In some rare cases it may be necessary to use two counterweights
together or a larger counterweight. Contact your dealer if a second or
larger counterweight is needed.
B. TRACKING FORCE AND AZIMUTH
Place the arm tube assembly on the lower bearing, taking care not to
strain or damage the 4-color wire and Lemo connector. Place the arm in
its rest.
At the rear of the arm base assembly is the connector block. Plug the
Lemo connector into its receptacle on top of the block. Notice that the
connector can plug in only one way. Align the red dots on the arms plug
with the red dot on the receptacle. Push gently, do not force the plug.
Make sure the turntable is level. Refer to your turntable instructions and
use a bubble level to check level. In most cases, the best place to put
the level is on the platter.
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With a unipivot arm it is particularly important to level the
turntable.
Move the counterweight until the arm has a very slight downward
tracking force, just enough to keep it from moving sideways on the
platter or enough to keep it in the groove of the record
Next, the lateral balance or azimuth must be set. Because the phono
cartridge is offset, there is an unbalancing force that tilts the arm to one
side. For the cartridge to properly track the record groove, the stylus
must be ninety degrees to the record surface. Move the counterweight so
a slight tracking force is applied and the stylus just sits on the record
surface.
Rotate the counterweight as needed to bring the arm into correct lateral
balance to set azimuth. When the azimuth has been set, you can lightly
tighten the setscrew located on the top of the counterweight. You can
use the azimuth ring or the counterweight to set correct azimuth. Lay
the long thin rod supplied behind the cartridge mounting screws into the
V groove and use it as a guide for setting azimuth.
Long thin rod
90 degrees
Unlike other unipivot arms, the Classic 3’s lateral balance weight does not
hang off to the side of the arm. Instead, its position around the bottom
of the upper bearing housing places the weight below the pivot point.
This increases mass below the pivot and increases arm stability.
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C. TRACKING FORCE (VTF):
Tracking force is adjusted by moving the counterweight forward and back
just a bit at a time. At least initially, you will be setting the tracking force
twice. The first time will be before the cartridge's overhang is set. After
this is done, you will need to double check the tracking force and adjust it
as needed.
The Classic 3 does not have a built-in tracking force gauge, but a Shure
Stylus Force Gauge is supplied with your arm on a new unit. Following
the gauge instructions set the tracking force to the cartridge
manufacturer recommendation plus 1/10 of a gram more. We always
recommend going to the high side when it comes to tracking force. High
frequency vibrations can cause a light-tracking cartridge to cause more
damage to the grooves than running a cartridge at a heavy setting. Make
sure the damping fluid is not installed when setting this force.
VERY IMPORTANT: MAKE SURE THE TONEARM IS PARALLEL TO THE
PLATTER WHEN SETTING THE TRACKING FORCE. IF IT IS NOT THE END
RESULT WILL BE HIGHER OR LOWER VTF THAN YOU WANTED.
In the rear of the counterweight stub there is a large hole, in this hole is
a screw that is used for fine adjustment of VTF. Use the large wrench
supplied for this operation. Most times you will not need this but it is
there if you want to really fine tune. You will need a digital tracking force
gauge to use this feature properly.
D. ANTI-SKATING:
REMEMBER: A 10.5” ARM NEEDS VERY LITTLE ANTI-SKATING FORCE
Anti-skating is one of the least understood forces acting on a tonearm.
Skating force is created by friction between the stylus and the record,
causing a force vector in a direction towards the center of the record
when the headshell of the tonearm has an offset angle. Putting a stylus
down on a flat, groove less record will cause the arm to move toward the
center of the record. Arm manufacturers have tried to compensate for
this force, but that is impossible because the force is constantly changing
as the music and velocity change.
VPI has conducted careful listening tests and determined that every
tonearm we tried sounded better with its mechanical anti-skating disabled
and the tracking force very slightly increased.
VPI has a unique solution to anti-skating: the coiled wire of the JMW
Memorial Tonearm acts as a spring and pushes the arm back without
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affecting the sound quality. You now have the option of installing a
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 antiskate if you want that much anti-skate.
mechanical anti-skate for those that want it.
Adjust the counterweight so there is no down force on the cartridge.
Swing the tonearm toward the spindle and release it. The arm should
swing out toward the outer edge of the turntable.
IF ADDITIONAL ANTI-SKATE IS NEEDED FOR WORKING WITH TEST
RECORDS YOU CAN GO TO THE MECHANICAL ANTI-SKATE SUPPLIED.
E. OVERHANG ADJUSTMENT: (FIG. 2)
This adjustment will yield the lowest distortion in the last third of the
record, the hardest to track, when playing a typical 12" record. Do not
go crazy over this adjustment. You do not know if the stylus is aligned
properly on the cantilever. You are also facing a constantly moving
target when playing a record. The arm is moving in 3-dimensions and
will only approximate the accuracy you have built into your alignment.
Place the Alignment Jig into position by sliding the narrow end with the
circular cutout between the arms lateral balance weight and the platform
that supports the armrest. Make sure that the jig's cutout fits against
and around the bearing well.
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While holding the one end against the bearing well, swing the other end
(with the hole) over the turntable's spindle so that the spindle holds the
jig in place. Check figure 1 on the last page.
While the arm is in its rest, loosen the screws that hold the cartridge just
enough that the cartridge can be moved back and forth.
Carefully swing the arm over the grid at the far end of the jig and place
the stylus as close to the dot in the center of the grid as possible. Using
a lighted magnifier will make this job very easy.
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO DAMAGE THE CARTRIDGE'S STYLUS:
Move the cartridge so that the stylus rests on the dot. Now, viewing the
cartridge from above, line it up so that its sides are symmetrically
positioned between the lines of the grid. If the cartridge has parallel
sides, these should be made parallel to the grid lines. Also make sure
that the cartridge is centered between the sets of lines. Follow figure 2 in
the back of the manual. If you can see the cantilever clearly you can
align the cantilever to the alignment grid. This is difficult and may
produce no increase in sound quality.
Double check the adjustments made above. The cartridge needs to be
both centered and "square" between the gird lines and have the stylus
resting on the dot.
The alignment gauge does not have a hole or dimple to hold the stylus.
While the printed dot makes it harder to keep the stylus in place, this
method was chosen to avoid the possibility of damaging the stylus
cantilever or the diamond tip as the cartridge is positioned.
Place the arm back in its rest.
Without letting the cartridge move, tighten the screws holding the
cartridge to the arm head. Make it tight, but don't over do it and strip
the threads or distort the cartridge body.
Double check the lateral balance and tracking force and adjust as needed.
Increase the tracking force by 1/10 of a gram above the cartridge
manufacturer’s highest recommended force.
F. ARM HEIGHT:
Unlike many tone arms, the JMW's height is both easy and repeatable to
vary. The knob next to the bearing housing bears a scale numbered from
zero to ninety-nine. Below the knob there is an index mark engraved on the
front of the support pillar.
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Rotating the knob clockwise lowers the arm and rotating it counterclockwise
raises it.
Set the arm height as follows:
Start the turntable and place a record on it. Lower the arm onto the
record and make the arm tube parallel to the record surface by rotating
the arm-height knob as needed.
This is a good initial setting. You may wish to vary it depending on the
cartridge you are using and or the particular record being played. The
knob's scale makes it easy to return to a previous setting by making a
note of the number above the index mark and the number of complete
turns taken.
The old wisdom, which had the arm tube parallel to the record surface,
assumed not only that all cartridges had the same internal geometry and
stylus rake angle but also that all records were cut with the same
equipment set the same way. The idea was that everything would line up
properly with the arm parallel to the record.
If you have a gentle touch (so as not to bounce the turntable) you can
simply vary the arm height while listening to the record and the changes
in distortion those results. Depending upon your patience and other
mental factors, you could go through this process for every record you
own. Or, as most of us do, you can find a setting that works for most
records and sit back and listen to the music.
THE ARM HAS TWO BLACK THUMBSCREWS FOR LOCKING
THE VTA SETTING ONCE YOU ARE DONE ADJUSTING.
LOCKING THE ARM WILL GIVE THE BEST SOUND WITH THE
TIGHTEST CLEANEST BASS. REMEMBER, WHEN MOVING
THE VTA UP OR DOWN YOU MUST LOOSEN BOTH
THUMBSCREWS
You can now add damping fluid. Use only enough to stabilize the arm,
too much will kill the sound and make the cartridge sound slow. Try
listening with and without damping and decide which you like better in
your system and with your cartridge.
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G. CONNECTING TO THE PREAMPLIFIER/AMPLIFIER
FIG. #1: THE PROPER WAY TO USE THE ALIGNMENT JIG. THE PICTURE
SHOWS A 12.6 BEARING, THE ADJUSTMENT IS THE SAME.
FIG #2: THE PROPER WAY TO ALIGN A CARTRIDGE, ALIGN THE
CARTRIDGE, NOT THE TONEARM HEADSHELL!
ONLY USE INTERCONNECTS THAT ARE SHIELDED AND PROPERLY GROUNDED.
NON-SHIELDED INTERCONNECTS CAN HUM AND PICK UP RF.
The ground connection is available to eliminate hum if necessary. If hum
is present, first connect a ground lead from the connector block to the
preamplifier or amplifier to which the output cable is connected. If this
does not eliminate the hum, run a ground wire from the turntable chassis
to the connector block as well. The block's connector will accept bare
wires, spade lugs, or ring tongue connectors.
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WARRANTY
VPI INDUSTRIES, INC. LIMITED WARRANTY OF THE ARIES TURNTABLE
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 contains 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 warrantee 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 no 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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