My impression of the VPI Rim Drive in practice

OK, so I've installed this, got it working and listened for a while now. Not a massive amount to say, but I thought I'd post my thoughts nonetheless

I've installed it to a Super Scout Master signature, with a Dynavector 20x modified by VPI. That goes into an Ayre phone then a Music First pre, into Allnic power amp and finally to Avantgarde Duo speakers.

Installation

Fairly straight forward. It took me an hour, but I had drunk a bottle of red wine immediately beforehand so was proceeding with extreme caution

Installation requires that you snip your existing wires in the motor unit and on my unit, there was not enough slack in the wires to make this an immediately and easily reversible operation. Something to consider.

In use

Simple and quite obvious benefit of improved speed stability, with all the inherent benefits that brings. Particularly notable is a more realistic representation of voices and acoustic stringed instruments.

Value for money

In my system I'm happy that this was a worthwhile upgrade. I could have spent slightly more achieving slightly less and still been satisfied.

Is it an essential purchase? I'd have to say "no" - I was happy with everything before and I don't look back in hindsight and remember sub-standard replay. Is it a worthwhile upgrade if you've got a nicely sorted system? Yes.

 

Nice write up, always interesting to see if in house upgrades are 'must haves' or just 'nice to haves'

I know this is off topic but is that the P5XE Phono you use? If so, do you run your whole rig in Balanced mode or single ended? I'm curious about a fully balanced LP set up.

 

Thanks. Yes, it is the p5xe and yes again, the whole shebang runs balanced. VPI do a balanced termination box for the tonearm lead that replaces the standard single ended one. The Allnic amps have XLR inputs so I can stay balanced all the way up to power amp input. I also run my CD player balanced.

I have tried the same set up single ended and I have a definite preference for balanced - lower noise floor, greater resolution, better soundstage and much better imaging, better instrumental discrimination - particularly with the TT. I suspect the lower signal level of the TT means the theoretical benefits of balanced operation are more significant.

 

Nice write up and agree with on your views but think it also allows more pace to come through a bit like a 401 but no rumble or treble issues