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How do I remove gunk from a Lyra Delos cartridge?

I was getting distortion at times when playing lps.Last week I took the turntable to a high end store in Manhattan and they said they would see if they could locate the problem.Everything checked out fine,but they did find what they called gunk on the stylus that you can only see with a magnifying glass and that they were unable to remove the gunk.The store is not a Lyra dealer so maybe they were being cautious when trying to remove the gunk because they did not want to take the chance of damaging the stylus.I will be going to the store tomorrow and I will ask them what methods they used to try and remove the gunk.If someone can give me some advice on removing the gunk I would appreciate it or if you think I would be better off getting in touch with the manufacturer.I'm worried about damage to the stylus. My turntable is a VPI 19 MKiii with a Audioquest PT-6 tonearm.I am thinking about upgrading to a VPI 9 Signature or getting a new turntable if it is more cost efficent. Thanks
montgomery
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
I would be very concerned that the stylus is damaged to begin with and this is why it is accumulating "gunk" in the first place. An undamaged stylus is smooth and does not "chisel" vinyl from the record and accumulate on the stylus. You really should have this checked out by a qualified service provider.

Jonathan?
photon46
1,083 posts
 
I clean my stylus with a little block of Magic Eraser after every play and there is a definite accumulation of tiny black vinyl particles soiling the white Magic Eraser after a few dozen plays. LPs are always spotless and cleaned with two vacuuming steps (cleaner and pure H2O rinse.) I have no doubt that set up parameters are spot on. I think it's normal for some constant debris to be kicked up from the grooves in spite of attention to cleanliness and setup. Otherwise, why would we need to clean the stylus in the first place? If someone is a complete slob about record hygiene and plays uncleaned used lps, I don't have too much of a hard time imagining a buildup of compacted crud after a few hundred hours. After all, the immediate point of contact between the stylus and lp surface is subject to immense heat and pressure (albeit very briefly.)
markpao
519 posts
 
Try Last Stylus Cleaner. Believe it or not this product cleaned up the crud on one of my cartridge needles better than Magic Eraser could.
cmalak
681 posts
 
Once you have the stuck on crud/gunk cleaned off your stylus, I would use "Zerodust stylus cleaner" on your stylus after each record play or at least after each listening session to prevent future build up on your stylus. Here is a link: http://www.musicdirect.com/p-7737-zerodust-stylus-cleaner.aspx
montgomery OP
29 posts
 
I went to Lyric Hi-Fi today and after looking at the stylus through a magnifying glass I can't tell if the stylus is damaged but there is something on it that Lyric was not able to remove.The Lyric rep said I should definitely have the manufacturer take a look at it.I need to get this cartridge problem resolved before I can decide on upgrading to a VPI Classic One.Hopefully Jonathan Carr will respond to this thread and let me know where to send it for inspection.I guess it's back to digital listening for awhile. Thanks
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