Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

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Nick
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#46 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Nick »

Theory, causation and explanation is not necessary in a solipsistic hobby
I would say that's a hypothesis but you are a lawyer so its a understandable mistake :-)
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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#47 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Ant »

Back over to the lenco with my arm on it, playing rush - moving pictures, and it hasnt quite got the bounce and flow of the oracle but everything is there on a plate
Enjoyment comes from a different angle
it makes no sense.
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#48 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Cressy Snr »

Don't let it bother you.
That way lies madness.
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#49 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Daniel Quinn »

I swapped p.t anniversary I had for 20 years for a bog standard Lenco .

I played 3 sides live on both once . I preferred the Lenco . Never compared them again and sold the p.t
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#50 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Ant »

Im not about to swap my lencos for the oracle it doesnt have the sound that i want, but having spent some time with it i can appreciate what the oracle does do, and appreciate why people swear by them. They seem to have a decent following and dont come up for sale very often

As i mentioned before it is kind of like stepping back in time to listen to, its a different type of sound that i remember from my lp12 playing days but without the screechy sound that the one i used had.

The thing is, i personally have been using the same or similar decks since 2011 when i sold the yamaha and the denon dp2000 dd, and a luxman pd something after getting made redundant. At the time i got shut of everything apart from the jbe which i couldnt bear to part with and one very ratty lenco that started all this silliness off, so ive had a very consistent vinyl sound, and refined it to where i have it now. So i have got used to it and somewhat narrow minded about what is good and what is not.

The xerxes sounded crap with the rb300 and the ortofon cart, and the lack of vta adjustment made it worse. With the tabriz and the dynavector on it it pricked my ears up.
The oracle has done the same thing in a different way.

The thorens td124 also had a different blend of qualities to my lencos and i can understand why they have the following they do and the price to match

Its nice to have access to things that i wouldnt usually be able to hear, a perk of the job so to speak and i think its nice to be able to compare the vinyl sound i have to what i could have if i went in a different direction. Id never have had the opportunity to try a 124 or oracle at home, i could have listened to either at steves, but in a system i dont know its not possible to draw meaningful conclusions other than the broad strokes

It has been very interesting to me to hear something different in the xerxes and the oracle. The xerxes is a project that is interesting and will be useful to me to further develop the arm
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#51 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Ant »

Having been made an offer on the oracle that i couldnt refuse, i have agreed to buy it off john who owned it.
Circumstances have meant that it has been sat in its box on top of the wardrobe for the last 16 months with john unable to find the time to collect it. Ive bought the deck itself, not the sme 309, i couldnt afford that arm even if i wanted it.

So, ive benched the xerxes to the top of the wardrobe, and fitted it with the tabriz off that deck. The xerxes was getting on my wick with its little problems with motor noise, and the tabriz is the best other arm i have.

I found in the box of bits that john fetched with the deck, a copy of the oracle mvss silicone chassis damping kit. I think, if i remember the conversation correctly, he had vic make the copy of it for him many moons ago when he was doing the trans fi decks. I then promptly forgot about it when i got it running again and didnt use it. It appears to be identical to what oracle produced for the mk v, or whatever version of the delphi oracle were up to at that point.

The damping kit consists of a set of 3 aluminium pots that sit on the base next to the suspension legs, and a set of corresponding conical damping paddles that screw into the underside of the chassis. These dip into the pots which have 100cst silicone fluid in them, and the damping level is adjusted by screwing the paddles in or out to alter how much of the paddle is in the fluid.

Simple idea that would not have occurred to me to apply to a suspended chassis, but seems like an obvious thing to do.

Dont have any 100cst fluid, so i shall have to acquire some to try it.

I shall also have to make up a new arm board for it, the tabriz just about fits into the aluminium sme cut arm board, but not the original acrylic sme arm board. Its workable as it is, but the interface between the arm mounting collar and the board is pretty crap.

I have some 6mm aluminium plate somewhere so i should be able to mill a blank board out of that.

Not much in the way of time to do that though as i have had to stop with bte designs and get myself a 'proper' job again after 8 years. it just became untenable. Dwindling order numbers that practically dried up completely by september meant that i just had to take the logical decision to call it a day.

Bit of a shame, but at least i did it, and made some folks happy along the way.

New job is for the environment agency, should be interesting, one week to go before i start.

I'll think of the delphi as a little present to myself for managing to get myself a decent job after 8 years out of the market.

Onwards!
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Nick
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#52 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Nick »

Well done Ant.
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#53 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by pre65 »

Nice one Ant, I'm sure you will adapt to having to being an employee again.

Environment agency does sound interesting, is it an inside or outside job ?
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#54 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by simon »

Yeah congratulations Ant, it can't have been easy getting a job after 8 years. What is the job at EA? (professional interest!)
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#55 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Ant »

Thanks folks, the job involves dealing with incoming reports, follow ups, making sure things are actually being followed up on, liasing with people out and about checking on water quality, air quality ect.

Much more admin than i am used to these days, office based. Ill be on call for incidents aswell.

Was not the easiest thing in the world to get a proper job after all this time, luckily i was able to use a personal reference off paul tiernan (nva) who kindly did that for me because i had no employer reference. He must have said i was superman or something....

I was surprised how many responses i did get though using indeed, in sharp contrast to my daughter who has been applying for everything and anything trying to get her first job. Employers dont seem to want to know. Its awful to see her getting more and more disheartened. We got her to volunteer at a british heart foundation charity shop to gain some experience to try to help her land something which she seems to enjoy. I remember that feeling well when i got made redundant the first time. Took me 18 months to find something then, that was 2011.

What was even more galling for her is that emma decided she was ready to try to work again after all this time, and she landed a part time job practically straight away. Only real difference is in their ages, emma hasnt had a job for about 18 years because of her illness. Go figure.

The vetting process was something else, they went through 8 years of accounts, did crb, dbs and some sort of other check to make sure i wasnt a murderer or something, wanted bills, passports driving licences, did a check to make sure i hadnt changed my name, im sure they asked for my inside leg measurement. Took 8 weeks to get through all that lot.
Im told there were elements of the anti terror checks done too whatever they were

Its not an external contractor job though its internal so thats probably why vetting was so involved

The oracle sounds completely different with the tabriz and the vm750sh on it, much more together and sharp and detailed and clean compared to the 309 and dynavector

The tabriz is probably half the weight of the 309 though, doesbt unbalance the chassis as much. I had to take the bob weight that attaches underneath off it to get it to bounce as straight as possible. may be why it seems to be better suited to me at least..
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Paul Barker
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#56 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Paul Barker »

Well done Ant. Ref youre daughter, was exactly the same for Sam. He did the charity shop volunteering. He finally got an interview at Cooplands. They asked him in the interview whether he had applied for many jobs. He said 100,’s. Then he felt awkward and said “ perhaps I shouldnt have said that”. But they were ok about it. It broke the ice, he got his first job after probably 5 years trying. Definately volunteering helped, and gave him a reference. Must be very hard for this generation of young people.
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Ray P
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#57 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Ray P »

Well done Ant, hope it goes well for you in the new job - as for the vetting, that's about par for the course. Fingers-crossed for your daughter too.

Will be good to see some pictures of the Oracle when you're ready - the other one... 😊

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Sorry, I couldn't resist!
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andrew Ivimey
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#58 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by andrew Ivimey »

Good on yer. Good luck.

(Even I get the Oracle reference. A silly trilogy - only just watched) oh alright, the idea is fascinating but two sequels? Really!
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#59 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Ant »

Asked emma which one looks best, she still says the jbe, or the 'flower' turntable as she calls it. Beth and theo like the jvc... didnt bother asking elliot, he doesnt care.

Interestingly (only to nerds like me) the jbe is 1979 year of manufacture, the jvc 1980 and the oracle looks like its 1981 year of manufacture.

Did a little tweakery and found the tracking weight was well out, should have been 2 and it was 3.6 so that was a balls up on my part. When i fitted the arm i just chucked it on and didnt re set it all

Sounds better now
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#60 Re: Oracle Delphi mk1 Quick Restoration

Post by Ali Tait »

Good to hear Ant, best of luck, hope it all goes well for you.
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