Oracle Alexandria Question


My brother's old Garrard has died, he has a sizeable record collection and wants to spend about $5-700 for a decent TT, arm and cartridge. I've pointed him to the Rega and MMF models, but my dealer has a nice-looking used Oracle Alexandria for sale which, with a nice cartridge, will fit in that price range. Sonically, I would expect it to better most of the newer tables I mentioned, judging from the reports in the archives. My only concern will be reliability (there was mention in one thread about a warped base or something like that?). Any owners out there who can comment? Also, any thoughts on a cartridge (I think this one has an Oracle arm, and my brother uses a Marantz receiver which probably will only take a MM design)? Thanks for any input.
rcprince

Showing 1 response by kkonet2

I have had an Oracle Alexandria table and a Sumiko MMT arm for many years and have been very happy with the combo. I recently had it tuned up by my dealer with new suspension parts, lubrication, belt, etc. Brand new parts kits are available from Oracle that have new springs, belts, lubrication, etc. When I had it tuned up, I also had a new Benz Glider cartridge installed.

The only problem that I ever encountered with my turntable was that over the years, the subchassis on my table did warp to the point where I was not able to raise the platter above the plinth so the platter eventually started scraping the plinth surface. However, my dealer was able to straighten out the subchassis for me when he tuned it up. We figured that the subchassis must have warped when I tranported the turntable very briefly without first removing the heavy platter (I was in a hurry and didn't remove the platter.....)

I think that the Alexandria is a very good compromise between today's "cost no object" turntables and budget tables. If you can find one in good shape, go for it!