Founded in 1978, VPI Industries appears to be one of the most successful turntable manufacturers in the world—certainly in the US. The New Jersey–based company sells turntables, tonearms, cartridges, record clamps, plinths, record cleaning machines, and a phono preamp. But that’s not all. The company offers VPI-branded pillows, candles, mugs, stickers, T-shirts, and a tell-all company history, 40 Years on the Record.
And talk about turntables! From the entry-level $1499 Cliffwood to the top-of-the-line $104,000 Vanquish (found under the website’s “VPI Luxury” page, accompanied by the adage, “Settle for Nothing but Extravagant”), VPI is clearly and rightfully proud of its analog achievements.
Like many successful small businesses, VPI is a family affair. Cofounder and designer/engineer Harry Weisfeld designed the tables that established the company’s reputation. Sheila, Harry’s late wife and VPI cofounder, was an important presence; her expertise in audiology and speech-and-language pathology gave her a skill set unusual in the industry and made her a principal contributor to VPI’s success. Harry and Sheila’s son Mat Weisfeld is the current designer and CEO; his wife, Jane, is VPI’s office manager. The 15 employees work at the company’s Cliffwood, New Jersey, HQ to manufacture every VPI ’table from 95% North American–made components.
Harry Weisfeld is a longtime, fervent record collector. His analog dreams started with buying vinyl and shellac as far back as the 1950s. He still collects LPs (no “vinyls,” please) and has a special fondness for Sonny Rollins’s Way Out West, Jo Basile’s Hit Broadway Musicals (Audio Fidelity AFSD-5972), Eydie Gormé’s albums on the Coral label, and anything on Norman Granz’s Pablo Records, home to natural-sounding ’70s and ’80s records by Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Pass, Sarah Vaughan, Milt Jackson, and Count Basie, to name a few.
“My first record was a mono Louis Armstrong, and I still love his ‘Shadrach Meshach’—amazing music,” the elder Weisfeld noted in an email from his Watchung, New Jersey, home. “I began building audio gear with a Dynaco FM 3 tuner and went from there. I was originally an electrical and mechanical engineer and a sheet-metal contractor. I learned all I know about
