VPI HW-40 Manual
HW-40 Turntable Packing List
Serial #: ________________
HW-40 Chassis
HW-40 Platter
HW-40 Dust Cover Screws
(Located in small plastic bag)
Signature Weight
Periphery Ring Clamp
Counter Weight
Finger Lift
Power Cord
Alignment Jig
Force Gauge
Dear VPI Customer,
Harry Weisfeld's 2012 Classic Direct direct drive turntable was an outstanding technical
achievement, earning Stereophile Magazine's Class A+ rating.
Celebrating VPI's 40th anniversary provided VPI an opportunity to update the direct drive motor
technology used in the Classic Direct to incorporate advances in motion control and materials
technologies.
With the combination of 40 years of global award-winning table design, the inclusion of the new
3D Gimbal Fat-Boy tonearm, our new state of the art direct drive technology, and an isolation
system that lowers all noise levels, VPI has created a turntable that truly demonstrates what is
possible from vinyl playback technology in 2019: the VPI 40th Anniversary HW-40!
The following manual will help guide you through everything you need to about your HW-40
turntable. If you run into trouble you can check out our set-up videos and online guides:
https://www.vpiindustries.com/videos
I want to invite you to join our VPI community on our VPI forum where fellow VPI owners share
and communicate ideas, questions, and tips with each other and VPI staff members:
http://vpiforum.com/
I also want to invite you to join the VPI fan group, “I love my VPI turntable” on Facebook where
everyone shares pictures of their tables and what they are listening to:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VPIturntablegroup/
If you have any further questions or concerns please contact your dealer, but also feel free to
Again, welcome to the VPI Family!
Mat Weisfeld
President of VPI
This date: ______________ this turntable was
Constructed by: _________________________________
And packaged by: ________________________________
Safety Instructions
Read and follow the Safety Instructions below and remember to save all packing material. The
HW-40 and all VPI products should only be moved/shipped in original packaging to ensure the
product’s safety. Also, be sure to place the table and components on a flat, level surface for
easier setup.
The following instructions are to reduce risk of electrical hazard or injury.
•To avoid electrical shock/hazard, do not open remove the bottom panel.
•If the power cord provided with the HW-40 does not reach an outlet, use a heavy-duty,
grounded extension cord.
•To avoid electrical shock, always plug the HW-40 into a grounded (three prong) outlet.
•Do not expose the HW-40 to rain or excessive moisture.
•Do not turn your HW-40 motor on/off at high volumes. To be safe, it is always good practice
to mute your system before turning any motor or electrical component on or off.
•Your 3D arm is heat resistant and UV Light resistant, however it is still not recommended to
leave your arm in extremely hot environments.
Minimum Specifications
▪Chassis Composition: Aluminum, and Walnut
▪Platter Type & Size: 12" Aluminum, 29lbs
▪Tonearm Included: JMW Fatboy Gimbal Limited Edition
▪Wow and Flutter: <.008%
▪Speed Accuracy: .01%
▪Power Consumption: 30W pk
▪Footprint: 21 ¾” X16 ¾”
(55.24 X 42.54mm)
▪Overall Size: 22” X 17” X 10”
(55.88 X 43.18 X 25.4mm)
▪Total Weight: 70lbs
Packaging and Repackaging Diagram
Figure 1 –Packaging
Anatomy of the HW-40 Turntable
Figure 2 –HW-40 Anatomy
Anatomy of the JMW Tonearm
Figure 3 –Tonearm Anatomy
Unpacking the Box
The packaging for the HW-40 has been carefully designed to avoid shipping damage and high-
impact stress. It is important to save the packaging in the event you move or ship your turntable.
•Using a knife or scissor, carefully cut open the HW-40 Box packaging tape.
•Prepare solid surface to place the HW-40, with platter installed the table weighs over 70lbs
•Remove the following tools and items and set safely to the side:
✓Alignment Jig
✓Signature Center Weight
✓Periphery Ring Clamp
✓Counterweight
✓Power cord
•Having a clear space ready, remove the HW-40 Chassis from the box and place it carefully on
an isolated platform.
•Remove Platter from bottom of box, place on motor hub, with power off spin platter and
verify it is properly seated on hub by observing the lower platter edge distance relative to
the top plate. There should be no relative motion.
Setting up the HW-40
•With table place on solid surface and platter installed plug supplied IEC type power cord into
115/230 VAC power source.
•Switch power on using switch located adjacent to the power cord on the AC input module
located on the left rear of the back panel. There is an 8 second delay before the blue ring in
the stop switch located in the left front corner of the top plate illuminates.
•Pressing either 33/45 RPM momentary switch will start the platter rotation and ramp the
platter up to speed in approximately 1 second.
•Pressing 45 RPM will change speed to 45PRM, pressing stop will decelerate the platter to a
stop in approximately 1 second.
Installing your Tonearm and Aligning the Cartridge
•The tonearm comes pre-installed on the turntable. The only additional part you would need
to add would be the counterweight.
•The counterweight is located in the accessories pocket in the top foam insert of the
packaging.
•First, inspect counterweight collar on the tonearm and look for the slot/keyway.
•Take the counterweight and identify which side has a larger diameter opening. You would
then slide this end on the back of the tonearm with the larger side facing the front of the
turntable.
•Rotate the counterweight until the set screw at the top is at the 12:00 position.
•Using the supplied 5-64 allen wrench, tighten the setscrew to hold the counterweight on
the adjustment collar. Tighten until the counterweight cannot slide, but do not
overtighten as this might cause counterweight to bind.
•The arm should be placed in the arm rest when you are not playing a record.
•To avoid damage to the 3D tonearm, you can use the provided washers, finger lift, or both to
be placed under the mounting screw head.
•For cartridges with pass-through mounting holes, use the hardware supplied with the
tonearm. Be sure to use washers under the screw heads.
•VPI provides 2 short and long screws for mounting your cartridge. If the provided screws do
not work with your cartridge, we recommend you use the screws provided by the cartridge
manufacturer.
•The tonearm wires are color-coded as follows:
Note: The Left Channel may sometimes be identified as black.
If your phono section inverts phase, the hot color becomes the ground color.
•It is recommended to use tweezers or needle nose plyers to connect the tonearm leads to
the cartridge terminals. You can also use your fingers if you are careful.
•Connect the remaining connectors in the same way. To avoid damage to the cartridge, do not
push the connectors all the way on.
\
•Place the Alignment Jig on the spindle with the V-groove against the base of the male bearing.
•Tighten the screws of the jig to fit snug against the male bearing and over the record spindle.
•Place the arm tube assembly on the male pivot point, using caution with the 4-color wire and
Lemo connector. Set the arm in its rest.
•If the cartridge has a guard, remove it.
•The arm should be placed in the arm rest when you are not playing a record.
•Swing the tonearm over the jig so the stylus is as close as possible to the dot in the center of
the grid. If you find your arm moving while resting on the jig, set the counterweight for
enough downward force to keep the stylus from moving
•Look down at the cartridge and align it between the lines of the grid. You should have the
diamond stylus on the white dot and the cantilever lined up with the lines on the grid. Use a
flashlight to look from the front and line up the cantilever with the grid lines. The only
alignment that matters is the cantilever lined up with the white lines, and the diamond on
the white dot. The angle of the cartridge is irrelevant.
•Adjust the cartridge mounting screws and the counterweight as needed until the cartridge is
centered between the grid lines and the stylus is resting on the dot of the grid. The picture
below shows the setup, the jig is in white for clarity, the provided jig is black.
•When the cartridge is properly positioned, tighten the cartridge mounting screws and remove
the alignment jig. Do not make them overly tight, the 3D arm is self-damping and you can
damage the surface by over tightening.
CONICAL LINE CONTACT
VIEW OF CONICAL AND LINE CONTACT STYLI AND GROOVE-TRACKING DIFFERENCES
Setting the Tracking Force and Tonearm Height
Tracking force is adjusted by moving the adjustment knob. Clockwise rotation moves weight
away from bearings for less weight while counter clockwise rotation of knob increases weight.
The JMW Tonearm does not have a built-in tracking force gauge but we supply a quality digital
tracking force gauge.
•Place the gauge on the platter (no record).
•Loosen the two black thumb screws in the base of the tonearm and raise the arm so it
looks parallel to the platter when it is on the stylus force gauge. When the arm is at the
desired height, lightly tighten the thumbscrews.
•If you do not make the arm parallel when doing this, you will be between .2 to .4 grams
light or heavy when you are on the record. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!
•Set the tracking force according to the cartridge manufacturer’s recommendation. We
recommend always going with the heavier side of tracking force. High frequency
vibrations on a light-tracking cartridge can cause more damage to the grooves of a record
than running a cartridge at a heavy setting. We usually recommend .1 gram higher than
the max tracking force if you are not using anti-skate (recommended way of setting). This
does not apply to Lyra cartridges that sound best at 1.73 to 1.76 grams tracking force with
or without anti-skate.
Setting the Anti-Skating –Two Solutions
•VPI does not support the need to have anti-skate but does respect the customer’s interest in
having it enabled. Therefore, we provide a mechanism for anti-skate and the option of
engaging it.
•For normal music listening all the anti-skate you need will be supplied by the lead out wire of
the tonearm to junction box unless you are using test records and measuring sine waves.
If you try adjusting the anti-skate with a groove less record, you will ruin the
twist in the tonearm wire and void your warranty. Do this with the
mechanical anti-skate if you want that much anti-skate.
General Use
•Before playing a record, make sure that both of the tonearm VTA thumbscrews are slightly
tight.
•Allow at least 20 hours of break-in time.
•The motor will make some low-level noise. This will not get into the system. The motor and
bearings will become quieter as you use your HW-40.
•If you notice hum in the system, remove the turntable to phono section interconnects and
replace them with very cheap, standard VCR interconnects. These are well shielded and
should eliminate the hum. If the hum goes away, get quality, well shielded interconnects.
Possible Problems:
•Noise in the system: a hum or buzz:
oThe answer is to ground the motor and system properly. A line filter that floats the grounds will not
allow proper grounding of the phono system, the phono system must be grounded! Phono is not like
a CD player and if this is your first table or your return to vinyl after a decade or so you must remember
that phono amplification can be 1,000 times higher than CD or streaming so any noise that gets into
the system will be amplified much more. Kill the noise with proper grounding and your system will
sound better.
•A pop on motor turn on or turn off:
oIn some systems the phono section is not well shielded and will pick up the EMF created by the switch
opening to turn off the turntable. If your system is like that you can get into the habit of muting (the
preferred method as you should really do that) or you can experiment with capacitors across the on-
off switch. We supply the table with a .001 microfarad cap, you can change it to a .01 microfarad cap
and it may eliminate to lower the problem to a tolerable level. A judicious grounding will many times
solve this problem also.
•Distortion in left channel:
oToo much anti-skate.
•Distortion in right channel:
oToo little anti-skate.
•Noise at startup:
oIf you get a screeching sound on startup, simply powder the drive belt with talc powder and the noise
will dissipate.
•Sibilance and distortion in both channels:
oAzimuth not set correctly or diamond stylus misaligned on cartridge. This is usually a setup or cartridge
issue, not a tonearm issue. It can also be caused by a tracking force that is too light even if it reads
correctly. Tracking force needed is determined by the temperature in the room, below 70 degrees
requires greater tracking force. We have found almost all cartridges work and sound best at 72
degrees.
oA 60-watt light put above a turntable in a cold room will heat up the cartridge just enough to make it
much more compliant and track better.
oBefore going crazy try a slightly higher tracking force, it usually solves all the problems and zero in on
the azimuth adjustment.
oAnother possibility is probably not as bad as the next photo but will definitely cause distortion and
sibilance even in small amounts.
VPI Industries, Inc. Limited Warranty
VPI Industries, Inc. (VPI) warrants this unit against defects in materials and/or workmanship for
five (5) years from the date of purchase by the original retail purchaser. VPI’s sole obligation
under this warranty is limited to the repair or replacement, at VPI’s option, of any part(s) found
to be defective. VPI’s obligation to repair or replace defective parts is the purchaser’s sole and
exclusive remedy, and VPI shall not be liable for any direct or indirect injury and/or property
damage arising out of the use of the product or defect in or failure of the product.
This warranty does not extend to any unit whose serial number has been defaced or altered. Any
product that VPI determines causes a defect or malfunction due to incorrect installation,
modification, misuse, or servicing by the purchaser, or service technician not authorized by VPI
to perform such service will not be warranted. This warranty does not cover trivial or cosmetic
defects that do not impair the unit’s normal function.
VPI reserves the right to make changes in this product without assuming any obligation to install
such change in any product previously manufactured. This warranty to repair or replace defective
parts is in lieu of all other express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose. There are not warranties that extend beyond the description herein.
Some states do not allow exclusion of implied warranties or limitation of incidental or
consequential damages, so the above exclusion or limitations may not apply to you. This warranty
gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights that vary from state to state.
Register your Product Online:
http://vpiindustries.com/warranty/
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