VPI HW-19
VPI HW-19
First it is worth mentioning that this table is so old that there is no virtual footprint/location to find a picture of it. The above picture of the HW 19 is from an old family album from when Harry and Sheila Weisfeld (original founders/owners) had the HW 19 in the background at a CES show.
The HW 19 was the first table Harry had developed after being commissioned to create an isolation base for Denon. The HW 19 had the following features:
-
Aluminum platter with 1/8"-thick by 2" wide lead cemented underneath.
-
Suspended sub-chassis
-
Aluminum pulley
-
Regularly paired with the Jelco Profile or Audioquest PT5 tonearm
-
Dust-cover included
Description from Stereophile's Gordon Holt's review
The platter is of solid aluminum, without the usual hollowed-out bottom, and a 1/8"-thick by 2"-wide band of lead is cemented to the platter's underside. Besides adding weight, the lead damps out ringing resonances in the aluminum, yielding an unusually inert platter. Tapping it with the finger produces only a satisfyingly brief "tick," without a vestige of ringing. No platter mat is supplied. The disc is supposed to go right onto the bare metal platter.
The sub-chassis is suspended on heavy springs at the corners, yielding a suspension resonance of around 5Hz. The springs are damped by the tried and true method of stuffing their insides with floppy foam plastic, which makes for a suspension that combines good vibration isolation with a high degree of stability. It jiggleth not! The panel is made of what appears to be ½" particle board, and screwed to the underside of this is a heavy steel sheet with folded edges for added rigidity. The whole suspended assembly weighs 24 lbs! The AC synchronous motor is attached to the base, not to the floating platform, and is coupled to the platter via a thin neoprene belt.
At the right side of the top panel is the arm-mounting board. This 5½"wide board fastens to the underlying steel plate via six heavy screws, spaced symmetrically so the board can be turned end for end. Thus, if you wish to install a different arm, requiring a different sized hole, you just rotate the board by 180° and you have a fresh corner through which to drill the new hole. As the 'table is supplied, there is only one large tonearm clearance hole in the supporting steel sheet, so only one arm can be mounted at any one time.
Existing in Production Upgrades:
-
HR-X Mini Feet
-
JMW Tonearm
-
Player Gimballed Tonearm
-
2" Aluminum Platter (Prime Platter)
