VPI Fatboy 12" Tonearm (Gimbaled) Reviews

5 Rating 2 Reviews

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Phone:

909.931.9686

Email:

joel.m@upscaleaudio.com

Location:

2058 Wright Avenue,
2058 Wright Avenue
California
91750

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“My experience mirrors that of Stephen Zettel who submitted a review four months before this one. I have a VPI Classic 4 turntable and replaced the 12" 3D unipivot arm with the gimbaled Fatboy. Similar to Stephen, I also have a Dynavector XV-1s cartridge. The first thing you should know about the Fatboy gimbaled tonearm is that setup is a snap, and alignment is far, far, far easier than the unipivot. In my experience, easier setup and alignment generally translates into BETTER setup and BETTER alignment, which is obviously important for sound quality, especially with a finicky cartridge like the XV-1s. I have to admit that I was never comfortable with the unipivot tonearm and always felt that I never got the alignment quite right. I will also admit that I am suspicious that the VPI unipivot design is never dynamically aligned properly, especially when it comes to azimuth. With that being said, I hear a major improvement in my system with the gimbaled Fatboy compared to the 3D unipivot. The bottom line is that the change to the Fatboy resulted in a substantial improvement in sound quality. More specifically, the detail and imaging improved markedly, and the bass response came up a notch as well. How much of this improvement is due to easier setup and alignment compared to the unipivot? I honestly can't say, and I guess I really don't care. The results speak for themselves. I spent the better part of a Saturday swapping out the tonearm, and of course my wife and ten year old son took notice of my efforts. That night I played a couple of my wife's favorite tracks and she said "that actually sounds better". Higher praise has never been given! So if you don't believe me, believe my wife who was somewhat annoyed that I spent my Saturday swapping out a perfectly good tonearm for an even more perfectly good tonearm, but still noticed the difference! My one and only complaint about this tonearm (and my VPI 12" 3D arm) is the rinky dink anti-skate. Honestly, I cannot understand how a $10k turntable combined with a $4k tonearm from the same manufacturer doesn't have a way to reliably adjust the anti-skate. Twisting the tonearm cable one way or the other is not an acceptable anti-skate adjustment, period. And VPIs anti-skate mechanism is very non-linear, applying a substantially different anti-skate force as a function of the position of the tonearm on the album. I would have thought that for the money, the VPI would have provided the ability to dial in anti-skate in a much more controlled manner. Despite my issues with the anti-skate adjustment, I'm still giving this tonearm a five-star rating because it really, truly and without a doubt improved the sound of my system. I feel like this tonearm is allowing me to get the most out of my cartridge, and in the end, I suppose that is exactly what a tonearm is supposed to do.”

4 Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Stephen Zettel

Verified Reviewer

“I’ve been using a VPI JMW 12.5 arm for years and years with a Dynavector XV1-S cartridge. I figured I’d hear some differences and hopefully some improvements going with the Fatboy 12” gimbaled arm, but I wasn’t prepared for the level of improvement across the board by switching to the Fatboy. Everything, and I mean everything! about vinyl replay improved, to the point that I’ve put thoughts of a new phono cartridge on hold for now. The trusty Dynavector is singing like I’ve never heard it sing before. This is a highly recommended upgrade for any turntable and the folks at Upscale, especially Kat, treated me right before and after the sale.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago