VPI Industries Classic Direct Drive with 12" tonearm - brand new, factory sealed

Brand New, factory sealed VPI Classic Direct Drive Turntable with 12" Tonearm.

Michael Fremer has declared this turntable a "game changer". Still one of the best turntables money can buy - this side of TechDAS Air Force One or Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable.

It was purchased 4 years ago from an authorized VPI dealer during the last VPI production run of the Classic Direct.

Michael Fremer wrote in Stereophile:

"The heart of VPI's new Classic Direct Drive turntable is its motor. Like other turntable makers, VPI claims cogless performance, but in this case the claim is verifiably accurate, and for the same reason the motor in $140.000 Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable is cogless: Both are made by the same company, Thin Gap, in Ventura, California.

No mysteries or secret sauces here. Thin Gap builds truly cogless motors. The platter is still the rotor but the stator is made of 100% nonmagnetic material and consists of electromagnetic coils embedded in a composite structure. Thin Gap claims that this design "significantly reduces" torque ripple effects: a periodic increase or decrease in output torque as the output shaft rotates.

The biggest problem with the Thin Gap motor is that VPI pays more than $4000 for each one—before implementation, and before factoring in more than a year and a half of R&D with the direct-drive power supply and motor-control functions, which were engineered by Paul Teseny. In high-performance audio, the rule of thumb is that a component's retail price should be five times its cost. Therefore, at retail, the Classic Direct's motor alone should cost over $20,000.

(...) The VPI combo of Classic Direct Drive turntable and 12" tonearm consistently produced mesmerizing sound that combined the rock-solid musical drive craved by fans of idler-wheel drive with the quiet and nonmechanical tonal richness demanded by devotees of belt drive. Add to that exceptional transparency and retrieval of low-level detail; taut, deep, powerful bass; and a total lack of obvious colorations, and you have $30,000 worth of sound. And then some.

Reviews:  https://www.stereophile.com/content/vpi-classic-direct-drive-signature-turntable

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/vpi_classic_direct.htm

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue76/vpi_classic.htm

All enquires welcome and will be answered in full.

NO TRADES.

Shipping within the EU ~ 100 EUR by DHL with full insurance. Ask for an exact quote - I pass through the same quoted shipping charges from my broker without adding in handling charges to keep the costs as reasonable as possible for the new owner.

US, Asia: $500

No VAT or duties for EU countries.

I'm AudiogoN Verified Dealer. Check out my spectacular AudiogoN feedback from the past 17 years, with multiple $20.000-$70.000 items sold each year and buy with confidence !