Well, I finally put this project to bed a couple of days ago when my dealer finally delivered and setup my new VPI Classic 2!!!!! It's quite a long story, but basically it was sent to my dealer the week before Christmas but apparently there was something wrong with the tonearm. After much research and discussion with VPI on the telephone, no one could figure out why there was only one channel working. They finally ruled out the tonearm and discovered there was a problem with the phono cartridge, which originally was the Dynavector Karat17D3.
Once we figured out it was the cartridge, I said the heck with it and told them to put a Dynavector XX2 mkII on there! My rack now looks like this with the table set up next to the Manley Chinook phono preamp!
This setup sounds awesome...here's some more:
with Audioquest King Cobra interconnects:
Since this was my first foray into vinyl, I figured that I might as well get better than entry level so I wouldn't necessarily be on the upgrade train a year from now, but so far it sounds spectacular. I found a U.S. first press of Pink Floyd's The Wall in almost mint condition and had a listen last night, it was stunning (and the new Guthrie CDs are pretty darn good).
I also have a small closet in the corner of my room which is pretty much empty, so that was perfect for the VPI 16.5 on a small $39 Target end table which makes cleaning a snap. So far been very impressed, especially with the VTA on the fly. Anyone have any feedback, ideas, suggestions?
