The platter is of solid aluminum, without the usual hollowed-out…
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There is something refreshingly no-nonsense about the design and construction of this turntable. It looks as if someone just said, Okay, this, that, and the other thing need to be done. Let's do it. And then they did it. In appearance at least, it is about as simple a design as you're likely to find. What sets it apart from other simple designs is that this one is built like a battleship! Everything is heavy-duty (notto mention heavy), from the 10-lb, lead-laminated aluminum platter to the ¼"steel-reinforced subchassis.
Anthony H. Cordesman reviewed the HW19 Mk.II in August 1985 (Vol.8 No.4):
If you're as tired of audio cultism as I am, you'll love the latest version of Harry Weisfeld's VPI HW19 turntable, the Mark II: no tricks, no mysticism, no bulishit physics, just a straightforward turntable that offers a solid middle ground between the SOTA and the Oracle, with many of the Goidmund's vir tues as well.
The HW19-II looks like a well-styled turntable; you can even use it without religious rituals in the setup. Not only that, once set-up it stays set-up. Only the SOTA exceeds it in terms of…
Anthony H. Cordesman returned to the HW19 Mk.II in May 1986 (Vol.9 No.4):
I'm not quite sure why turntables inspire more passion than electronics or speakers, but somehow they do. Perhaps it's the Hiberian-Slavonic legacy of Ivor the Tempestinateapottenbottom, or the Sicilian heritage of Robert the Irascible, but many audiophiles find ranking turntables more important than listening to them. The status of owning the best seems more important than the music.
Several Important Caveats:
First, and most important: while some of the sonic differences between the best turntables…
Audiophile Systems Responds
Editor: We find it interesting that Tony Cordesman deems it desirable to open his review of the Improved SOTA Star Sapphire, VPI HW-19, and Oracle Delphi Mark II turntables with a shot at Linn Products, particularly given his subsequent dismissal of the Linn Sondek as a second-rate turntable. Mr. Cordesman states, "The fact that Linn Sondek's advertising has made a British cult out of buying a comparatively high-priced Linn turntable—even for comparatively low grade components—has no justification other than profits for Linn." We are certain that Mr. Cordesman…
Guy Lemcoe reviewed the HW-19 Mk.IV in August 1992 (Vol.15 No.8):
In spite of its weight, the box sitting in Stereophile's receiving room seemed innocent enough. Little did I know its contents would add immeasurably to my enjoyment of analog playback and send me scurrying to Nicholas Potter's (footnote 1) in search of fresh vinyl. I've owned a VPI HW19 Mk.III for several years now and, in addition to the fine job it does as a record player, I've always been impressed by how easy it is to retrofit with the latest Mk.IV improvements sent from Cliffwood, each upgrade resulting in…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Four-point suspension belt-drive turntable. Walnut base standard, oak available. Speeds: 33 and 45 rpm. Synchronous, "instrument quality, medium-differential" synchronous AC motor. Wow & flutter: 0.04%. Speed accuracy: 0.01%.
Dimensions: 21.25" W by 17.5" D by 7.25" H.
Price: $730 (Mk.I, 1984); $885 (Mk.II, 1985&3150;1986); $1800 (Mk.III, 1990–1992); Platter, bearing, suspension assemblies, belt, and mounting hardware for Mk.IV modification to VPI HW19 M.III, $700. Acrylic armboard for Eminent Technology Two tonearm: $100. TNT Mk.II…
WAGNER: Glenn Gould Conducts & Plays Wagner
Siegfried Idyll, original chamber version.* Piano Transcriptions (Gould): Die Meistersinger, Prelude to Act I; Götterdämmerung, Dawn & Siegfried's Rhine Journey; Siegfried Idyll
Glenn Gould, piano, piano 4-hands (overdubbed), conductor; members of the Toronto Symphony
Sony Classical SK 46279 (CD only). Kevin Doyle,* Kent Warden, Frank Dean Dennowitz, engs.; Glenn Gould,* Andew Kazdin, prods. ADD. TT: 71:00
Siegfried Idyll, original chamber version.* Piano Transcriptions (Gould): Die Meistersinger, Prelude to Act I; Götterdämmerung, Dawn & Siegfried's Rhine Journey; Siegfried Idyll
Glenn Gould, piano, piano 4-hands (overdubbed), conductor; members of the Toronto Symphony
Sony Classical SK 46279 (CD only). Kevin Doyle,* Kent Warden, Frank Dean Dennowitz, engs.; Glenn Gould,* Andew Kazdin, prods. ADD. TT: 71:00
Listening to Glenn Gould's masterful Meistersinger and Götterdämmerung piano transcriptions again for the first time…
Dateline—Chicago, May 30, 9:00pm. Exploding fireworks lit up the sky above the Chicago river as 200 leading high-end designers gathered in the Hotel Intercontinental for Stereophile's 30th Anniversary banquet. After a repast of four gourmet courses and five wines, the time came for after-dinner speeches to celebrate Stereophile's past and high-end audio's future. Publisher Larry Archibald described his adventurous transition from the high-end car business to risky publishing. Introducing J. Gordon Holt, he praised JGH's uniquely lucid writing and his unflinching insistence that equipment…
Kevin Voecks demonstrated this situation at CES, using Snell B Minor speakers in a room of typical dimensions, around 12' by 18'. FFT analysis of the system's impulse response (fig.1), measured with a microphone at the "ideal" seat on the stereo axis, showed the complex effects of boundary reflections and standing waves. On the computer screen the first-arrival response from the speaker (fig.2) was nearly flat. Subsequent curves in the "waterfall" plot (fig.3) showed increasingly severe irregularities, a low-bass rolloff, and a very large 100Hz peak as the standing waves built up.
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Yet another amp from Colorado! This is the third amp to come my way from that state (the others being the Spectrascan and the Rowland Research), and at this point, after living with it for a couple of months, I'm quite comfortable in declaring the Boulder 500 to be one helluvan amp.
Jeff Nelson and Randy Gill, the two principals at Silver Lake Research, have recently crossed over from the professional market into the audiophile arena. That's why the Boulder looks the way it does, featuring a host of such "pro" touches as balanced/unbalanced inputs, conductive plastic input level…