Some of my frustration surrounding this topic is that VPI has kind of a recipe, if you will. For the longest time, I sat on the fence about the unipivot based on what others had written. It's this. It's that. Death wobble . . . blah, blah, blah. I had pretty much decided that I was going to jump in with both feet with a Prime Signature and was saving my pennies. [Ya'll know I'm a McIntosh guy . . . the meter on the MT-10 is just silly and the wall-wart power supply non-acceptable for a tt of that dollar figure so it wasn't even a contender.] Still, I didn't like the fishing line Anti-Skating apparatus (just like found on cheap belt driven 'phile tables) but it seemed like twisting the tonearm harness was an acceptable solution for AS. I figured if Fremer liked the unipivot, then I could too.
Then, along comes this deal on a brand new Avenger for less than the PS - I just had to jump so I did. Dude . . . When I got the tt, and read through the setup instructions (which do in fact leave much to desire) it became clear to me that HW never took much stock in AS to begin with and his designs didn't require it for playback. Right then and there, I was like - You know what, I need to set this tt up precisely as guided and try that first. If I don't like the results, VPI has given me all the solutions - right up to the gimbaled arm they offer for the tt. When in Rome . . . I found that the setup jig worked perfectly and I had never been able to set up a cart so quickly. [A while ago, I compared the results with my db Protractor - my long time fave. Guess what? Spot on at both points. And I mean spot on. That is not an accident, it's simply geometry. So, when someone tells you that you have to align at two points and that's why the VPI setup tool isn't worth nothin', they never used it.]
When you buy a product like a VPI, you're buying into the designers IP. They invented it. They should know best how to get the best from it - what it's capable of. I bought in hook, line, and sinker and, I've just never looked back. [If you buy a Krell, then you're buying into Dan D's mantra - follow his recipe and you'll get what he intends. Same goes here.] You can always use the AS, upgrade to a gimbaled arm, etc. Heck, they even now offer a dual point uni-pivot for folks that fear the Death Wobble which hasn't been a problem here - and I've tried multiple cartridges. I never felt then need for any of that. No speed stablizer. No periphery ring. No fancy power cord. I just put it on a level surface and set up to the letter. And it just blows my skirt up in a major way every time I put a record on the platter. It simply has to be heard to be believed.
That's why I'm at odds with the Prime 21 or any VPI that comes with a gimbaled arm right out of the box. You don't even know what you could have had. It's one thing to start with the foundation HW set and then decide you can do better through scientific method. But don't make the mistake of bypassing the foundation altogether - otherwise, you may never hear what the tt is capable of. It's a whole lot easier to spend you money towards worse than better in this hobby.
