by husafreak » Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:28 pm
Well the answer is probably yes! I received the 9" 3D arm and for my setup it required 3 turns counterclockwise of the female bearing, looking down from the top, or "looser", or effectively raising the female bearing cup, to get the back of the 3D arm low enough that I could use the VTA ring to fine tune VTA. There is a description how to in the VPI website FAQ's showing how to do this. I need to get another cartridge for my non 3D arm and will have to make the vta adjustment on it via the female bearing cup but I haven't done that yet, it's a "no priority" job at this point.
The 3D arm sounds fantastic. I should probably leave it at that... I'll add that the first thing I noticed was the soundstage was wider and deeper, images larger, actually life size. This was after a TLAR (that looks about right) install. That is still the biggest impression, images are life size and better defined. Everything is just rock solid. Then I got busy with the fine tuning and realized more gains in the "lifelike" department. For me I am getting into the territory where the realism of a good recording is completely convincing. I am not getting the hyper detail that a lot of really high end rigs can achieve, not getting technicolor sounds or transients that make you jump. I hear a breath or a squeak or an echo, but still low in the mix. Maybe that is a good thing. That may also be due to my system, I did choose Harbeth speakers after all. That kind of presentation can be a bit too much, distracting, unforgiving. So anyway, it is still a warm sounding rig and that is fine with me. The really sweet notes, often high ones, Ella for instance, just soar and disappear in a way that is new to me, I often am not sure when I stopped hearing them. But yeah, the realism is definitely up the ladder from where I was at. Classical music is a blast with the perfect placement of instruments and gorgeous sound quality really more noticeable in the huge and deep soundstage. And those notes definitely have more character, more harmonic purity, more solidity. So I definitely feel that I am at the limit of what can be achieved with a modest rig, an affordable rig. It's not a Classic or a Prime but it fits my built in wall shelf and will sit there for a looong time. I imagine it is very close in capability to one of those tables in the 4-5k range. It is quite captivating really, lots of Oh wow! moments due directly to the enhanced realism.
VPI Scout 2/JMW9-3D arm/Sumiko Blackbird/VPI Periphery Ring/HRX record weight/Pheonix Falcon PSU/Timber Nation Maple Isolation Platform/Target Wall Stand/VPI HW-16.5/Ortofon 6NX-TSW-1010/Krell KSL/KSL phono/KST/XLOPro/Harbeth SHL5+