ARIES 3

The 1.75"-thick platter is comprised of clear or black acrylic and incorporates an inverted bearing similar to that used in the HR-X. The bearing shaft is 60 Rockwell hardness, ground and polished, and the platter rotates on a Teflon/Delrin composit thrust plate for ultra low noise.

The solid black aluminum motor assembly is almost 10 pounds and contains a low noise 300-RPM synchronous motor with Delrin motor pulley. This is a very low noise system as the fundamental resonance of the motor is at 5 Hertz. Well below the ability of a cartridge to pick it up.

For improved stability and damping, the Aries' 3 chassis is made from a sandwich of 2 layers or 5/8” polished black acrylic top and bottom with a 5/8” thick aluminum center section, exactly like the HR-X chassis design. This makes for a very inert, very quiet, and extremely stable platform for the platter and tonearm to sit on. The plinth is supported by four aluminum cones, the bottoms of which are composed of hardened steel balls. The cone suspension when applied to the laminated HR-X type chassis provides outstanding rigidity and a wealth of information from the record grooves. They are adjustable for leveling.

The Aries 3 circular armboard is 4” in diameter, 1" thick black acrylic and mates well sonically with the new laminated chassis.

The Aries 3 is available in three models:

1. Aries 3 with blank tonearm board
2. Aries 3 Black Knight, which is a standard Aries 3 packaged with the JMW-9 tonearm, black platter
3. Aries 3 with new improved JMW-10.5 arm

The Aries 3 can be taken to the next level by adding VPI’s Synchronous Drive System, periphery ring clamp, and HR-X center weight.