@testpilot : Learn something new every day! So the OP could change the arm to an SME V for improved detail. This makes more sense than buying a VPI TT.
Experience VPI Dragon and/or Mark Levinson 515 turntables
I understand both of these listed turntables are the same.
Are there Audiogoners that own or have evaluated one or the other. I am very interested in feedback from use. Or is there another VPI turntable I should consider. Any other options?
I currently own Oracle Delphi II with Eminent Technology arm and am looking for a table that is much newer and benefits from 35 years of industry knowledge and manufacturing.
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@jasonbourne71 Oracle and SME have a long standing commercial relationship, therefore, your SME suggestion is a good one along with sending the table back to Oracle for an update. |
"the Delphi is a great turntable and the ET2 is a great tonearm, but together, they aren’t the best match." After reading the OP’s setup, I wondered about that setup. In the 1986 review, the ET was thought to be ideal. From the review: The SOTA, VPI, and Delphi also work synergistically with the new air-bearing arms. The Eminent Technology Two, for example, provided outstanding performance with all three turntables (there is a special mounting kit for the Oracle). In fact, I’d urge you to audition this combination. I’ve not had the opportunity to test the new SME V or the latest Goldmund arms in my system, but the few people I know who’ve experimented have all felt the Eminent Technology to be at least as good, and $700 to $2200 cheaper Oracle Delphi turntable | Stereophile.com VPI Dragon- it looks like it will be a decent table, but $8K? I’d look at what other brands/setups $8K can buy. Few bucks less gets you fully loaded VPI Classic or a little more(MD has B stock for $12K) HW40 DD. If it must be USA-SOTA
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testpilot all arms I have ever messed with, if they had captured/soldered wires within, were lighter, thinner, more flexible wires with thinner insulation, and ’soft slack’ than the ones used externally. You can tell when you observe the arm’s inner skate on a blank lp before you apply any anti-skate My Blackbird came with delicate exposed silk covered wires, no ’wire pushback’. But the silk insulation wore off and hum developed. VAS re-wired, the new wire is stiffer, he added a VPI junction box with mini-din in and rca out, and that exposed length causes pushback. Yes, VPI added the anti-skate as an option to some arms that started without it, I could not tell if it is included on the arm on their Dragon table. |
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