I was 21 years old in university when I cruised down to the local audio shop. What I saw made my jaw drop and the salesman helped me pick it up once he told me how expensive it was. I've been lusting after this longer than my beloved late my wife and I have been married. If she were alive today, there was no way I could have swung this financially. Even though I now have the means, it took my psychologist and my late wife's brother inlaw to put the purchase into perspective. So I finally pulled the trigger. Here it is in all its beauty. Its an Oracle Delphi Mark IV with an SME 309 tone arm. It sounds really good.
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And I bought this album new off of Amazon to christen its home coming.
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Wow, that's a beauty and it's hard to beat SME for tone arms. As they say, you can't take it with you, so you might as well enjoy it now!
On a side note, I have a friend who sold an old pair of Klipsch La Scala speakers but didn't know their value and way under priced them. He then bought a house that has a space perfect for two La Scalas so he is looking for another pair again. Market price is three times what he sold his for and new they are $18,000. He has run his own business for years, wheeling and dealing and trading real estate as well, so he's been looking for months for a good deal on a pair. Funny thing is, he has millions and could afford to buy five pairs. I told him recently that with his savings I'd have the best damn audio system around, but when you've been frugal and a tough negotiator all of your life, it's hard to break that habit. You should see the old beater he is driving.
He's retiring this year so I'm nudging him into living a little and not sweating the pennies so much. I think that psychology is partly why we see so many retired guys looking at boutique audio gear and corvettes.
