Opinions on the Oracle Delphi V's performance?

I have a Brooks Mod Oracle Delphi I and have heard the latest Delphi and i can say with all candor they have one thing in common. They both throw a HUGE soundstage but the Delphi V handles the tempo of bass notes better. My Oracle is the last turntable I will ever own having fallen in love with it's oil rig design many years ago.

Your choice between a Delphi V vs a VPI Scoutmaster really boils down to whether or not you prefer the sound of sprung vs unsprung turntables. They are each superb excecutions of both design philosophies. Sprung tables tend to emphasize midrange presence and soundstage at the expense of diminished frequency extremes and detail. Unsprung tables tend to be more dynamic, neutral, detailed and unforgiving. Certain arms tend to work much better on unsprung than sprung tables as well. If aesthetics matter then there is no contest, Oracle's timeless elegance trumping VPI's more industrial presentation.

I went back and forth between various VPI tables and iterations of the Oracle for years searching for the optimal balance until Brooks Berdan himself saved the day by introducing me to a table that he believes is the first to effectively split the difference: a very lightly sprung but massively anchored tripod table.

My advice: you cannot go wrong either way. However if your record collecton spans decades of indiscriminate but memorable performances, buy the Oracle. But if your collection consists mainly of meticuluosly maintained "audiophile" pressings buy the VPI.

Either setup will likely embarass your digital source.

I own an Oracle Delphi Mark V (Anniversary Edition) turntable. It has an African Black Granite base, & the pilar spring suspention is trimmed out in all yellow gold plating. Wow ! you talk about a look ? I also have a Graham Engineering 1.5 Tone-arm attached this this beauty. It too,is all plated in gold trim. & attached to this tone -arm is a Benz -Micro L-2 cartridge.

I've had many different tables, cartridges, & tone -arms the past "30" years, & this simple set-up, just can't be beat. Go with an ORACLE, It looks as good as it sounds.

The Delphi Mark V bests the Scoutmaster in every respect. Besides if you buy the Scoutmaster, you're stuck with that awful JMW-9 tonearm.