Purchased the TT of my dreams

[3dbinCanada]

I was 21 years old in university when I cruised down to the local audio shop. What I saw made my jaw drop and the salesman helped me pick it up once he told me how expensive it was. I've been lusting after this longer than my beloved late my wife and I have been married. If she were alive today, there was no way I could have swung this financially. Even though I now have the means, it took my psychologist and my late wife's brother inlaw to put the purchase into perspective. So I finally pulled the trigger. Here it is in all its beauty. Its an Oracle Delphi Mark IV with an SME 309 tone arm. It sounds really good.

 

[JStewart]

That TT looks so good anything played on it would have to sound good! Think I’ve seen you have a bit of vinyl in listening thread. May every thing old sound new again. Enjoy!!

 

[Todd Anderson]

That is gorgeous. I'm really digging your taste in sources!

What kind of vinyl do you like to spin?

 

[NBPK402]

I have always loved the Oracle TTs!

 

[3dbinCanada]

That TT looks so good anything played on it would have to sound good! Think I’ve seen you have a bit of vinyl in listening thread. May every thing old sound new again. Enjoy!!

The "May every thing old sound new again" sounds like an aging statement which I'm in complete agreement with.

 

[3dbinCanada]

That is gorgeous. I'm really digging your taste in sources!

What kind of vinyl do you like to spin?

I have many different genres of music from Blues to Metal to Classical and everything in between other than rap and hiphop. Those two genres aren't in my vocabulary although I do have an ENIMEN CD.

 

[3dbinCanada]

Basically all Oracle Delphi turntables have the same basic construction even though they've upgraded through the years. This video is off a base upgrade but it gives you an idea of what its all about.

 

[VinceHoffman]

Oracle tables RULE!!! I bought my first Delphi at 20 years old. 38 years later, I'm still rocking a Delphi. There was a few years in my late twenties where life circumstances saw me go without a turntable altogether but in my early 30's I bought another which I have to this day. A little over a year ago it went back to the mothership to have all the sonically meaningful updates of the Mk VI retrofit. A Delphi sporting a great arm and cartridge is an endgame turntable.

In the livingroom we rock a second Oracle, an old school Alexandria with an updated "mini-me" CNC machined subchassis hiding inside the plinth.

 

[NBPK402]

Oracle tables RULE!!! I bought my first Delphi at 20 years old. 38 years later, I'm still rocking a Delphi. There was a few years in my late twenties where life circumstances saw me go without a turntable altogether but in my early 30's I bought another which I have to this day. A little over a year ago it went back to the mothership to have all the sonically meaningful updates of the Mk VI retrofit. A Delphi sporting a great arm and cartridge is an endgame turntable.

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In the livingroom we rock a second Oracle, an old school Alexandria with an updated "mini-me" CNC machined subchassis hiding inside the plinth.

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I used to have the Sumiko modified Mk4 arm on my Gyrodec SE...awesome arm!

 

[VinceHoffman]

I used to have the Sumiko modified Mk4 arm on my Gyrodec SE...awesome arm!

That's a Sumiko MMT tonearm on our Alex. I believe it was a stock arm choice for later production Alexandria Mk1s and MkIIs. Its a solid but unremarkable tonearm.

 

[NBPK402]

That's a Sumiko MMT tonearm on our Alex. I believe it was a stock arm choice for later production Alexandria Mk1s and MkIIs. Its a solid but unremarkable tonearm.

Mine looked just like the one in the first pic. I have never seen one listed anywhere, and the dealer told me it was modified by Sumiko, but it still had the SME markings on it.

 

[VinceHoffman]

Mine looked just like the one in the first pic. I have never seen one listed anywhere, and the dealer told me it was modified by Sumiko, but it still had the SME markings on it.

Oh that was likely an OEM version of the SME 309 tonearm then. SME did an Oracle branded OEM version of the same arm for a long while as well. It was offered packaged with several generations of the Oracle Delphi right up until SME decided to get out of the OEM and aftermarket tonearm biz a few years ago. My current Oracle was delivered as a Delphi V and came packaged with one of the Oracle branded SME arms back when I bought it new 20+ years ago. Along the way I upgraded to the SME V arm, the flagship big brother of the 309 and 345. It was a no brainer upgrade as the SME V dropped straight into the identical hole in the tonearm mounting plate. I just needed to retune the suspension to accommodate the SME V's higher weight (than the 309).

 

[NBPK402]

I reached out to the guy I sold mine to in 2005 to see if I can get more info. As I recall it had a oil trough too. At the time I believe the arm and GyroDec SE was around $5k new. I bought it as a demo for I think $3k at the time. Def the most expensiveTT setup I have ever owned.

 

[NBPK402]

The buyer just got back to me and the arm is a SME IV/V1. This is a pic of one.SME IV.VI

Specs...
SME IV.Vi tonearm: Fixed-bearing (Abec 7) tonearm with nondetachable headshell, adjustable silicone damping, adjustable VTA, and tapered, pressure-diecast magnesium armtube. Distance from pivot to stylus: 9.18"; from pivot to turntable center: 8.48". Offset angle: 23.6 degrees. Linear offset: 3.68". Overhang: 0.70". Effective mass: 10gm. Vertical tracking force: 0-3gm. Maximum tracking error: 0.12 degrees.
Price: $2750.

If I still had more than a few records... I would find one again.

 

[VinceHoffman]

The buyer just got back to me and the arm is a SME IV/V1. This is a pic of one.SME IV.VI

Specs...
SME IV.Vi tonearm: Fixed-bearing (Abec 7) tonearm with nondetachable headshell, adjustable silicone damping, adjustable VTA, and tapered, pressure-diecast magnesium armtube. Distance from pivot to stylus: 9.18"; from pivot to turntable center: 8.48". Offset angle: 23.6 degrees. Linear offset: 3.68". Overhang: 0.70". Effective mass: 10gm. Vertical tracking force: 0-3gm. Maximum tracking error: 0.12 degrees.
Price: $2750.

If I still had more than a few records... I would find one again.

Nice, that was a very good tonearm. A meaningful step up from the 309 and only a small step down performance-wise from the flagship SME V.

 

[Sal1950]

I think there were very many of us who were audiophiles in the 1980's that lusted after Oracle Delphi's.
If nothing else they were just so beautiful
Have fun all you guys who have fulfilled a dream now in later life.
Personally I sold off everything vinyl related about 15 years back and put every penny in a wonderful 5.2.4 digital multich system. I haven't missed a single snap, crackle, or pop since.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

It took me 30 years, but I finally bought a Mk1, to which I added the Mk6 dashpots. Glad I did.