Spending an afternoon in the listening room of Nashville based Prestige
Audio is always a pleasure I look forward to immensely. Alex, the owner, is a
kind, patient soul and has no problem spending hours listening to my eclectic
tastes in heavy, classic music. Prestige Audio is a distributor for many
audiophile manufacturers including Totem Acoustic, Hegel, KEF, Rogue Audio,
Pro-Ject, VPI Industries and Paradigm and Alex was gracious enough to let me
have a few hours to give VPI’s latest turntable, the Nomad, a thorough testing.
VPI Industries is an American turntable manufacturer located
in New Jersey
that has built a solid reputation among vinyl lovers by providing reasonably
priced, technically superb products for nearly forty years. Their old school
commitment to quality has been paramount to their success, and I was very
excited to finally enjoy one of their tables in person.
The test set-up we used was an audiophile’s dream, powered
by a Herculean Hegel amplifier and Totem Acoustic towers that hover right around
the five digit dollar mark. Add a few thousand more for interconnects, speaker
cabling, line conditioning and a pre-amp, and we were able to fairly isolate
the performance of the Nomad.
VPI bills the Nomad as the “first all in one high-end entry
level turntable” for good reason. It skilfully incorporates an internal
phonostage and quality headphone
amplifier into a sleek, but durable package that is exceedingly simple to set
up and have your wax spinning before finishing off your first adult beverage.
The durability and overall simplicity is also evident in the gimbaled/yoke bearing
tonearm sporting classic stainless steel and aluminum, capped by the widely
popular Ortofon 2M red cartridge and throughout the rugged, black casing. The
package also comes standard with a machined mdf platter and fabric slip mat.
My go-to vinyl for testing is the 200 gram 2002 pressing of
Norah Jones Come Away With Me from Classic Records. Frankly, it sounds good on
just about any turntable, but it really provides an opportunity to let the
hardware breathe and exploit the nuances that good vinyl can provide.
The Nomad performed admirably, in fact, it performed exactly
at the mark a high-end entry level turntable should. It was able to produce a
vivid dynamic range and broad, warm tone throughout the album both through the
Totem towers, as well as, with headphones. While it was certainly no match for
it’s big brother, the Traveler, in range or tone, I just have to wonder how
much of that can be attributed to the use of a higher quality cartridge on the
Traveler.
For me, one of the largest benefits to entry level hi-fi, is
the ability to upgrade, and I think any Nomad owner could easily and affordably
enhance the sound by upgrading the cartridge and mat down the road, getting
much closer to the performance of the pricier tables.
After a couple hours of play time on the Nomad, it was
evident that the convenience of the all in one, complemented by the increased
durability and quality of sound make it a serious contender for just about any
vinyl lover’s consideration. Clocking in at just under the $1000 mark, and
sporting a long history of American craftsmanship from VPI certainly doesn’t
hurt either.
If you are after audiophile performance and exceptional
value in a simple, well-crafted turntable with built in headphone utility, then
this might be your new ride. Stellar product indeed.
@Oldfatbroke
All photo credits Jim Ribeiro
Special thanks to Prestige Audio Nashville and VPI
Industries
Records used in testing:
Norah Jones Come Away With Me Classic Records 2002
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here Columbia 1975
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced Reprise
Records 1967
Spelljammer Vol 2 STB Records 2013
Shooting Guns Brotherhood of the Ram (diehard version)
Easyrider Records 2013
Comments