I used an Oracle Delphi MKIII with SME IV for 15 years and the Oracle turntables do not have rocko socko bass!
The Oracle sound characteristics are Very Smooth sound and slightly lite bass.
I suggest you upgrade your arm and cartridge a couple of notches. There are many, not to expensive, good choices out there.
Do not worry about lower volume with the phono, just turn up the volume control more. Phono and CD volume settings generally do not match in most all systems. |
The Oracle is a Welterweight not a Heavyweight. Fast, agile, quick, but lacks power and punch.
Before doing any equipment changes, play around with tonearm's VTA and VTF to see if you can achieve a more bass without sacrificing treble extension. |
Despite the rumors, Oracles can put out plenty of bass, just not that muddy thumping one note bass many confuse with power. I have used and still use Delphis and the bass is as good as any. Not quite as deep as a Sota Cosmos, but close. I am using an Sme 345 with Lyra Delos now, into a Manley Steelhead and do not miss any bass.
As mentioned on vinylengine, you need to set your gain higher with the internal dip switches. Get a better arm and cartridge also. |
Manitunc, and others, thanks for replies.
I have posted a more completed up date on Vinyl engine with some details,
Question Manitunic,?
Do you use the SME 345 on an Oracle? There seems to be quite a few choices
and at the price for each I'm hoping to buy on to last for a while.
I really think I'm going to get the outboard crossovers as the descriptions of previous owners should like what I'm hearing.
Question? why would the Goldring 1042 at 6.5 mv be considered a low output MM?
Going forward should i ever bother with a MM? My phono has all the settings for seemingly every thing.
Cheers
Steve |
I use an SME345 on my Oracle Delphi V SE. Match made in heaven. Oracle has a similar SME out now, but it is pricey.
As for the Goldring, 6.5mv is pretty high, even for a MM. Most run around 5mv. If I was going to use a MM, it would be the Ortofon 2m Black, which works well on my Transrotor Fat Bob/Audiomods IV. |
The one thing a lot of older recordings lack is bass. Have you compared CD's to LP's directly; using the same exact recordings? For example, people will use a remastered CD and compare it to an original recording on LP. They both need to be originals or the same remaster, in order to have a fair comparison. |
I'm checking to see if you have made any of the classic turntable setup errors.
low bass feedback is the biggest enemy to TT bass response
after improper setup. You should get decent bass with quality TT you have.
1) is your TT on a rigid but lightweight structure? Bass travels easiest through massive objects, light weight but rigid structures block better. If on carpet, be sure the stand has carpet spikes.
2) do you have your TT away from room corners and at least 5 feet away from your speakers? the classic system photo with TT between speakers is one of the worst locations possible, second only to a room corner.
Never had an Oracle, my understanding is that they can be finicky to setup. Dealer house call might be the cure |
Zd542
You are very right. although my arm is not so good, and am planning to upgrade it, I'm finding because i have B&W 801 matrix speakers I hear absolutely every thing in the recording. IE a poorly master base track in the recording, sounds just like that. You would be surprised how poorly the new Beatles boxed set in vinyl sounds. What a poor job they did. And now I found out they mastered it from the same master as used for the CD set!!!
I have some new MO FI records and the quality is unbelievable. When I play classical on test pressings it's the same stellar sound. The better i get my table set up the more clearly you hear every thing both right and wrong with the vinyl. Regardless i will take it anyway over digital, even with all the inconveniences and noise. If I did not have an Oppo 95 I wouldn't even play CD, such is the difference.
I did find out from B&W that for the lowest 1/2 octave the speaker is designed to use a Bass Alignment filter (really a high pass filter)
So in the end all is good with the table, I'm just discovering whats good and bad with my recording. i was for warned by a fairly experience dealer that with the Matrix 801 its very source dependant, hence it's reputation as a good studio monitor. |
Alberta_steve,
I have a pretty good idea as to what you are talking about. I had the 802 Matrix S3's. They are very similar to the 801's. I believe the mid and hf drivers are the same. The speakers have a great midrange. Its very clean and fast & fun to listen to. The tweeter is not so much fun; at least for me. I found it to be too harsh and ended up going with other speakers.
If you enjoy music like classical, its really an excellent speaker. With modern recordings, you just get too much vocal sibilance.
As far as the issues you have with recordings like the Beatles reissues you mention, I may be able to give you some useful advice. Keep in mind, though, this is just my own personal opinion and nothing more. When it comes to vinyl, I personally feel that it only pays to get full analog recordings. Analog recordings that have been digitally re-masterd or recordings that were recorded in digital to begin with, I tend to stay away from for 2 reasons. 1. I almost always prefer the origional version over the remaster. 2. Either way, even if the production is good, any time a recording is digital at some point in the chain, it sounds like better digital, not analog. At least to me. Given that, I would rather go with an SACD, or something similar. |
I recomend that you read the references to setting VTA in the Slindie Rabco arm post. |
I used to have a mk III and now have a mk V. I found that the springs have to be perfect to get the best bass and all other aspects out of the Oracle. Better arms and cartridges will help as well, but the heavier later models will do a better job than your mk I, but you should get good bass even with the mk I. |
one other thought. The new Beatles remaster is hardly what I would call a great recording. they mixed the masters down to 44khz CD quality digital before cutting the discs. Might as well record your own cd off an original vinyl record and use that as your master to cut an album. Check out Fremer's review of the set on Analog Planet. I was greatly disappointed in the set. Even my wife asked what was wrong with the system when we started playing them. Some of the albums are ok, but others are wretched. Havent listened to them since. |
