Company Address: 505 Boul. Industriel, Sherbrooke, Que., Canada J1L 1X7.
The first version of the Oracle Delphi turntable appeared on the market in 1979, establishing a level of styling that made it a candidate for the Museum of Modern Art's design collection. Few high-fidelity products have been as visually attractive or provided so many new features. The new Delphi II retains all of these physical attributes and features, and, adding a number of important sonic ones, now definitely has high-end sound quality. At $1,250 it may be expensive, but it is a serious contender for the title of the best sounding turntable currently.
The original Delphi had a good suspension and a very good ability to reject acoustic vibration and problems from movement of the floor and furniture. It was also one of the first turntables to provide a precise adjustment for tuning the suspension to different tonearm weights, as well as having a mechanism for securing the record to the turntable mat, thereby minimizing any resonance or coloration caused by the lack of a firm record/turntable inter face. Setup procedures, however, were complex and poorly explained, and improvement was needed in some other areas too. For example, the original a.c. motor, noisy and a source of quality-control problems, was replaced in 1980 with a new, quieter d.c. motor.
This didn't produce the smooth sound or stability of some of the top competition, and the unit had audible wow.
Further, the spring suspension did not reject low bass and midrange energy from external sources well enough.
The Delphi II provides all the necessary improvements to correct these problems, and more. The d.c. motor now is a Pabst unit, first used on the $2,500 Oracle Premiere. Its drive is smoothed electrically by a large capacitor bank, and mechanically by a built-in, 1-pound flywheel. The flywheel is dynamically balanced at the factory at three times the normal operating speed. Potentiometers at the back of the turntable allow precise speed adjustment. A new molybdenum-disulphide oil, said to provide extended wear capabilities, is used in the main bearing assembly.
The base of the Delphi II is 5/8 inch thick, rather than the 1/2 inch of the previous Delphi, and its new spring suspension system does a far better job of rejecting external vibrations. Aluminum tonearm plates are optional, priced at $66 if precut to match your arm and $38 if blank. Extra springs are supplied to tune the turntable suspension to match different arm weights; audiophiles who do their own setup or want to change tonearms will find this (and the now very well-written setup instructions) to be of major help. They will be equally pleased by the combined stroboscope (for setting turntable speed) and cartridge-alignment protractor which Oracle has included with the Delphi II.
Most important, these improvements have clear sonic results. My extensive listening comparisons with other top ranking turntables showed that the Delphi II provides an exceptionally neutral and musical sound. The speed-regulation and stability problems common to many belt-driven turntables were minimal to nonexistent, and the Delphi II consistently provided more musical data and low-level transient in formation, from the midrange up, than most competing designs.
The soundstage and imaging were stable and musically very convincing.
The sound had excellent dynamics and musical life without a trace of hardness or the extra record noise common on many compromise de signs. "Sweet" is overworked as an adjective for audio systems that communicate the character of the music, rather than imposing their own coloration on the sound, but it is appropriate for the Delphi II. Midrange coherence-the ability to provide a consistently musical and convincing sound over very long periods of time-rivals that of any turntable at any price.
If the new Oracle Delphi II does have a special sound character or coloration, it lies in the deep bass. Like most free-floating or suspension turntables, the Oracle tends to reduce bass energy in comparison with other designs.
This can be minimized by using the manufacturer's optional metal tonearm mounting plate rather than the standard acrylic plate, and clamping it as tightly as possible to the turntable frame. A 1/8- to 1/4-inch rope of Mortite placed between the mounting plate and the turntable frame will help damp it. Without such damping, the metal plate tends to rob the sound of some of the sweetness found with the acrylic tonearm mounting plate, which cannot be rigidly clamped to the turntable frame.
A further improvement in the bass is possible by replacing the standard feet with spiked or metal-cone feet to "fix" the turntable firmly to the mounting cabinet or shelf. This seems to consistently improve the clarity and life of the bass and lower midrange. The Delphi II also works synergistically with the new air-bearing arms. The Eminent Technology Two, for example, provided outstanding performance and has a special mounting kit for the Oracle. The Alphason, Syrinx, and other top-quality pivoting arms also provided excellent overall performance, but with a little less bass data.
In summary, the Oracle Delphi II is the kind of turntable that makes many audiophiles feel that the analog disc is still the most pleasurable source of music in the home. The unit apparently does trade off some lower bass energy for exceptional sweetness in the upper midrange and higher octaves, but no competing product is free of such trade-offs. It is a superb audio product and one that can contribute years of musical pleasure and excitement.
--Anthony H. Cordesman
(Source: Audio magazine, Jun. 1986)
Also see:
Oracle Premiere MK IV Turntable & Oracle SME 345 Tonearm (Equip. Profile, Apr. 1992)
Linn Axis Turntable (May 1987)
Michell Gyrodec Turntable (Dec. 1986)
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