Groove Master

VPI currently offers seven turntable models, but the Cliffwood, New Jersey, company didn't start out with turntables. They initially made record cleaning machines that literally sucked dirt out of the grooves. The cleaning machines are still a significant part of VPI's business. It's a fact: Spotlessly clean records sound better. They just do.

After 30 years in the business, VPI is celebrating with the aptly named 30th Anniversary Classic Turntable.

Measuring 20.75 inches wide and 15.75 deep, the Classic is a somewhat larger-than-average turntable. It weighs 45 pounds. You can get yours finished in walnut or black oak, and sure, it looks like it was designed in New Jersey.

The Classic's exquisite 18-pound, machined-aluminum platter rests on an "inverted bearing" that sits in the same plane as the drive belt. The ingenious design approach virtually eliminates any wobble or extraneous bearing movement or noise. The turntable comes with a screw-down record clamp that flattens record warps. It works like a charm.

The turntable is a mass-loaded design, meaning the Classic doesn't use coil springs or rubber feet to isolate its base from external shocks such as foot falls.

The Classic feels absolutely inert, and VPI claims the turntable can be placed in close proximity of large subwoofers without fear of feedback.

The beautifully finished aluminum/stainless steel tonearm is a "uni-pivot" design. It's 10.5 inches long, which makes it a good inch and half longer than standard tonearms. But it's a fact that longer arms have lower tracking distortion.

Compared to other arm bearing types, the uni-pivot's ultra-low friction is something you'll notice when you move the arm when cueing records. It's ridiculously smooth. Remember too that the stylus tracing the groove moves the arm across the record, so the lower the friction the better the sound.

I would have assumed VPI built the Classic in China to keep costs down, but they assure me that 90 percent of the parts are sourced from local New Jersey suppliers, with a smattering of bits and pieces coming in from Pennsylvania. I think that's great.

Unless you've had a lot of experience setting up turntables, it's a task best left to your dealer. That said, the Classic is less finicky about setup than most high-end turntables I've seen. VPI offers a few options for the Classic, including a nifty Periphery Ring Clamp that sits on the LP's outer edge to fully eliminate warps; a SDS adjustable speed power supply; Dynavector or Grado phono cartridges; and a dustcover.

With the Classic I explored the deepest recesses of my vinyl collection, and in just about every case I found a new appreciation for oldies but goodies lurking on the shelves. Take Elvis Costello's Almost Blue. Back in 1981, Costello's first brush with country music bored me to tears, but I now love it. Not that I'm a country music fan by any stretch, but Billy Sherrell's deft production strikes the perfect balance. Best of all, Costello sounds like he's having a blast.

Bass. There's something about the way the Classic does bass that gives the music a vitality that CDs never have. The rhythmic pulse is better, groovier and has more get-up-and-go.

It's an eerily quiet turntable so records appear to have significantly lower surface noise, even compared to exotic turntables that sell for double or even triple the Classic's price. If you never heard a high-end turntable before you'll be amazed by the difference.

Yes, record condition and wear affect quietness, but I'm listening to records I bought as a teenager and they're dammed quiet. No, not CD quiet, but background clicks and pops don't intrude the way they do on lesser turntables.

Spinning the Motortown Revue Live at the Apollo, which features a very young Stevie Wonder, the Supremes and the Miracles, was a special treat. Early in their careers their music was way less polished than later Motown studio recordings, and that's what makes this LP, recorded in 1963, so special. The Supremes work the Apollo crowd hard. The Classic digs deep and reveals more of the music.

Pristine audiophile remastered LPs, like the Classic Records version of Duke Ellington's Blues in Orbit takes the fidelity to another level. Switching back and forth between the Ellington LP and CD, well, there's no comparison! The CD sounds like a good hi-fi, but the LP breathes life into the sound. It's a far-from-subtle difference.

I'm not claiming LP sound is perfect, just that vinyl communicates the music's emotional pull better than any digital format extant. You find yourself enjoying the music more on LP. I can't remember who said it, but it's one of the great Audiophile Truths: “The best way to enjoy digital is never listen to analog.” Thing is, you need a great turntable, tonearm and phono cartridge to fully decode the magic in the grooves.

More and more record labels are pressing vinyl, and not just re-issuing old stuff. Young bands are releasing LPs. Jack White, of White Stripes fame, loves analog, so sure his new band Dead Weather's new record, Horehound, is available on LP. Amazon currently lists hundreds of thousands of LP titles. It’s a great time to get into vinyl. If you already have a vinyl collection, what are you waiting for?

If you want to know why vinyl is still going strong nearly three decades after the introduction of the CD, listen to a great turntable. The Classic would be the best place to start.

PRICE:
30th Anniversary Classic: $2,500

CONTACT: 732.583.6895, vpiindustries.com

For more vinyl, check out Vinyl Lives.