I'm a Canadian, so Oracle is a local company. I'm not as smitten with the looks of it. I seem to like the look of the Transrotor Orpheo, Clearaudio Master Solution with the AMG wood plinth... that type of thing. LOL
Teres: sound like a great deal (with your dollar ;), but I'm not a fan of the all wood look. A tad too organic for my living room decor (wife ruled it out).
Verdier: am looking into it
Transrotor: does this make sense - I checked out the Orpheus on the web and a German site has it for 5000 euro (about $6700). The US distributor has it for $13K. Allowing for duties, I can't imagine it's more than $8500 equivalent and, as much as it is, I'd really consider stretching the budget for this baby.
Keep the suggestions coming gentlemen and thank you.