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Advice for a new Oracle Delphi Owner

Calling all Oracle Delphi owners, I recently bought a nice condition MK III and have a couple of questions for existing or previous owners of this fine turntable.

My questions are.

1) Do you always switch off the platter each time you change the record over or try to unclamp, flip over, re clamp whilst the platter is spinning. If the answer is yes I assume the motor is robust enough for the constant switching on and off?

2) Do you ever play with an alternative platter mat without the clamp. If so what brand.

I really like this turntable and it sounds excellent with no issues evident at the moment. My only thoughts are that it is a little more time consuming to use due to the constant power off, unclamp, place record, reclamp, power on and play routine for every side of play. 

Look forward to any input.

Thanks.
ateal
harold-not-the-barrel
895 posts
 

ORACLE GROOVE ISOLATOR 
This is an original ORACLE dense rubber mat for DELPHI and PREMIERE MK I - MK III 
NEW OLD STOCK - made in France

The ORACLE GROOVE ISOLATOR is made from a vinyl based compound which is electrolytically positive charged. Since all record vinyl exhibits a negative charge, the two are electrostatically opposite therefore creating the apparent "stickyness" through electrostatic attraction. This is not a chemical bond, such as what would be found with Sorbothane or even glue. 
This method was chosen because an electrostatic bond leaves no chance for a chemical residue on the record itself. This does happen with the silicon Sorbothane mats and particularly with cork mats, albeit the deposits are infinitesimally small. 
The other advantage of an electrostatic bond is the direct cancellation of negative static build-up in the record due to triboelectric stresses. 
The ORACLE mat doesn't really stick to the record, both are drawn to each other electrostatically. This is why it is important to keep this mat fastidiously clean, since the forces are so relatively weak even the smallest particles on the mat will inhibit this static process. ORACLE BRILLIANCE solution is an excellent cleaner. 


ateal OP
97 posts
 
Thanks again Harold. 
Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,657 posts
 
ateal " ... I have learnt that the current location of my springs in relation to the suspension housing is at the limit recommended in the manual, i.e. when i lift the sub platter my springs are flush with the suspension housing and no excess springs are showing underneath. This setting places the suspension housing 18mm (not 21mm) above the acrylic base.

I think this is why my suspension is quite springy and gives me plenty of bounce cycles. What I may do is re-do the suspension making sure I am 21mm from the acrylic base and in turn this will keep a little of the spring showing under the suspension housing and slightly firm up the suspension ... "

As I recall, adjusting the Delphi III's tower height does not change the tension on the springs - only their height. The turntable is designed to be "springy" and performance will likely suffer if you try to "firm up" its suspension.

harold-not-the-barrel
895 posts
 
"As I recall, adjusting the Delphi III's tower height does not change the tension on the springs - only their height. The turntable is designed to be "springy" and performance will likely suffer if you try to "firm up" its suspension."

Exactly. I owned one Black/Gold III 25 years ago. Gorgeous machine. Alas, it was impossible to fine tune because the location of towers didn´t match the upper chassis tower holes exactly. Sounded good though. But I never could get the best out of it. What a shame :/
ateal OP
97 posts
 
Thanks Cleeds and Harold for the advice on the suspension.

Harold, can you clarify that problem you had with your MK III and how it adversely affected the tuning. Do you mean the 3 holes in the aluminum sub chassis did not correspond with the 3 holes in the acrylic deck. I guess that would mean one or more of the towers were skewed in the vertical plane.

If that is the case then that must have been a poor factory quality control issue and I agree such a shame.  
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