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VPI Turntable Owners Thread

Thanks for the great input everyone. I'll try the talcum. I just worried about belt wear and if I was the only one and also is this an issue with the VPI tables and other belt drive manual tables.

MIC
 
Man in Cave said:
Question:

I have some initial belt slippage after I switch on the motor before it finds speed. I assume there's a film or some such on the belt that causes this. I wiped it down but that didn't help. Any recommendations?

MIC
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Completely normal. I own 3 VPI's and have worked on and listened to many others and they all do it.
 
FWIW, I have the Phoenix Engineering kit on mine and wonder why VPI never acquired the rights to manufacture it after Bill Carlin retired and closed PE. Possibly the best belt drive arrangement ever.
 
Pio1980 said:
FWIW, I have the Phoenix Engineering kit on mine and wonder why VPI never acquired the rights to manufacture it after Bill Carlin retired and closed PE. Possibly the best belt drive arrangement ever.
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Sota did. It will be on my Cosmos. I wonder if I can get another sensor and run it on my Prime.

Cheers
Mister Pig
 
Mister Pig said:
Sota did. It will be on my Cosmos. I wonder if I can get another sensor and run it on my Prime.

Cheers
Mister Pig
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The current Sota Roadrunner is identical to the one sold by Phoenix. It will measure speed and usage time on any platter but it will not correct the speed. Used in conjunction with one of the "Phoenix" power supplies, feedback is provided between the two units so that PSU can regulate speed based on the Roadrunner tach. The new "Condor" which replaces the original and universal Phoenix Falcon and Eagle PSUs will require modifications to work in the VPI SAMA since the Condor works and is sold in conjunction with a BLDC motor and is designed for a flat belt. Some have already modified them to work with VPIs. I personally would wait a bit, that's what I'm doing.

My guess is that Sota will eventually offer a Condor with a VPI pulley option and a pre-fabricated female plug adapter so that VPI owners can replace the Hurst A/C motor in their SAMA and plug & play like with the old Falcon/Eagle except with the BLDC motor. There are too many VPIs out there for Sota to overlook that source of revenue now that they own the Phoenix Engineering line. They might as well capitalize on their investment.
 
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Vintagear said:
The current Sota Roadrunner is identical to the one sold by Phoenix. It will measure speed and usage time on any platter but it will not correct the speed. Used in conjunction with one of the "Phoenix" power supplies, feedback is provided between the two units so that PSU can regulate speed based on the Roadrunner tach. The new "Condor" which replaces the original and universal Phoenix Falcon and Eagle PSUs will require modifications to work in the VPI SAMA since the Condor works and is sold in conjunction with a BLDC motor and is designed for a flat belt. Some have already modified them to work with VPIs. I personally would wait a bit, that's what I'm doing.

My guess is that Sota will eventually offer a Condor with a VPI pulley option and a pre-fabricated female plug adapter so that VPI owners can replace the Hurst A/C motor in their SAMA and plug & play like with the old Falcon/Eagle except with the BLDC motor. There are too many VPIs out there for Sota to overlook that source of revenue now that they own the Phoenix Engineering line. They might as well capitalize on their investment.
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Or they could just offer the AC motor controllers.
 
Pio1980 said:
Or they could just offer the AC motor controllers.
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Yes, that would be great if the bring back the Eagle & Falcon. They can call it the "Canary" for all I care :D ... just bring it back.

I don't think it will happen though because Carlin said he had talks with Sota early on and they decided on just pairing the PSU with the "better" motor (in Carlin's view).

As a side note, FWIW sadly there is some "history" between Carlin and VPI.
 
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Vintagear said:
Yes, that would be great if the bring back the Eagle & Falcon. They can call it the "Canary" for all I care :D ... just bring it back.

I don't think it will happen though because Carlin said he had talks with Sota early on and they decided on just pairing the PSU with the "better" motor (in Carlin's view).

As a side note, FWIW sadly there is some "history" between Carlin and VPI.
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Their loss. SOTA will have the best belt drive scheme in the business then.
 
Pio1980 said:
Their loss. SOTA will have the best belt drive scheme in the business then.
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Or maybe Mike Bettinger could come up with an alternative model to the ADS that would incorporate speed display and "correction" features like the the Phoenix RR/PSU combo.

They're already doing something similar (speed monitoring & correction) in their Direct Drive model so why not?

I have never tried an SDS or ADS so I'm not sure if the speed is rock solid once set to frequency but the Phoenix approach just seems simpler to me.
 
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Phoenix had the rim tach tied to the controller in a loose feedback loop on a belt drive, something nobody else did, to comp for belt slip and creep, stylus drag, and anything else that could alter true speed, plus adjustable quartz clock base accurate speed control. He was on AK when he was working on it.
 
So I've had this now for about 4 months and I'm very happy with my decision. IMO the Scoutmaster model hits a home run. It also had the features I preferred and was looking for in a BD.

With the Periphery Ring and HRX weight it's a dense 55 lb. beast with a reasonable footprint. Take the time to set it up perfectly then isolate it well and you will be rewarded. I'm using it with VPI's JMW tonearm cables and the cover is a Gingko. Not much to maintain on these, could last forever...




ShuUETyl.jpg
 
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