VPI Scout 21: belt-drive turntable with the JMW 9 unipivot tonearm fitted
The Scout 21 is a belt-drive turntable for 33 and 45 rpm records, delivered with the 9-inch JMW 9 tonearm installed at the factory. It follows the layout of the Prime Scout and is the next step from that model: the housing of the 300 rpm motor and the isolation feet have both been revised.
The chassis combines steel with MDF covered in vinyl, has the shaped outline typical of the Prime series and comes in matte black. The aluminium platter, 3 cm thick and weighing about 4.8 kg, spins on an oil-bath bearing. The motor sits in a unit separate from the chassis, and the turntable rests on four HW-40 type feet. A screw-down Delrin clamp is also part of the package.
Key features
- Belt drive, 33 and 45 rpm speeds
- 300 rpm motor in a separate unit, with a pulley machined to a tolerance of about 0.013 mm
- Aluminium platter: diameter about 292 mm, thickness 3 cm, weight about 4.8 kg
- Wow and flutter 0.08%, speed accuracy 0.08%
- Rumble at -78 dB
- Overall size 48 x 38 x 21 cm (width, depth, height), footprint of about 470 x 368 mm
- Total weight about 14.5 kg
Supplied tonearm
The JMW 9 is a unipivot tonearm built from aluminium and steel, wired internally with VPI woven copper. Pivot-to-spindle distance is 223 mm, effective length 240.7 mm and the effective mass is 10.2 g; the overhang measures 17.7 mm and the offset angle 22.85 degrees, with a mean RMS distortion of 0.36%. The dropped counterweight, the side weights for azimuth and the VTA are all adjustable; the output uses a Limo connection.
Available upgrades
VPI lists several upgrades for the Scout 21: the Prime platter, the JMW-9-3D tonearm, the Analog Drive System (ADS) unit for speed adjustment, the Signature Center Weight, suggested for mildly warped records, and the arm base whose VTA can be set while a record is playing.
