LYRA DELOS CARTRIDGE TOO BRIGHT, THIN AND SHRILL SOUNDING


Have had a Lyra Delos Cartridge for the last month and have any of you goners noticed a elevated treble, shrill thin bright sound from this Cartridge? I wish I had my HANA ML back. This Lyra sounds horrible!!!
jeffvegas

Showing 7 responses by rushfan71

Jeff Lyra’s are very sensitive to set up and slight adjustments. (Alignment, VTA, VTF, Azimuth)
I originally set up my Kleos using the very crude VPI jig that came with my table at first, then I ordered a Mint LP protractor (Much more precise) and a USB microscope to be able to see the extremely fine arc to set the overhang and to align the shadows in the mirrored finish to make sure the microscope was sighting the cantilever alignment grid dead straight before adjusting the cantilever.

Once you are positive your cartridge alignment is as close to perfect as you can get it, and VTF is set correctly, next check that your tonearm is perfectly level with the platter surface(VTA) then recheck VTF.

If it stills sounds shrill and elevated as you stated, and you are sure you have your phonostage at the best sounding setting, the next thing I would suggest is dropping the rear of the tonearm via VTA adjustemnt in small increments.
This reduces the high end extension and adds bass and warmth.

I gotta say, IF those loading changes made NO difference something sounds wrong. Dumb question, did you check if you have the correct tonearm wires attached to the correct locations on the cartridge and aren’t reversing the polarity of one channel. That will kill the bass. My Lyra and my Ortofons have the color coded pins in different locations on the rear of the cartridge body.

This is assuming you have enough break in hours on the stylus.
They do smooth out in the first 50-100 hrs or so in my experience as Puiu mentioned. He is also right about the different sound signatures between the Hana.
The Lyra is lively, dynamic, detailed and airy with a big soundstage and rock solid detailed bass (atleast in my system with my components, tubes and cables.

If you want to sell that Delos and it’s in new condition for $500 don’t hesitate to PM me. I’ll put it on my second tonearm OR my other TT in a heart beat.
I guess I'll end with this Jeff,

Like I already said Lyra is very responsive to the slightest changes.

The fact that, according to you:

"I had it at 470, 1k, 47k, 220, 100, 47. doesn't make a difference. shrill bright sound. junk."

makes no sense, it sounds like something isn't right.

It also sounds like you had your mind made up before starting this thread.

Good luck with your Hana.
I hope it works well with your setup.


@avanti1960 you basically mirrored what I said and the response was:

"lesson learned. a 2000 dollar Cartridge isn’t always better than a 1200 dollar one. HANA ML is a giant killer!!!"

Something is definately wrong in my opinion as well but it doesn’t seem the OP is looking to solve the issue he is having. He has gotten some solid advice.

If he really wants to get to the bottom of what’s going on, this is the person he should reach out to:

Alasdair Patrick

Apatrick@audioquest.com


I was wondering if jcarr would chime in on this obserd rant.

A couple things, jcarr is an absolute class act (obvious by how he has treated @jeffvegas with respect after shytting all over his design)

I own the Ortofon 2M Black and if you think it stomps all over that Lyra then you obviously have something wrong going on (in your system or in your head) tough to tell which at this point.

No matter what the price tags are on your current gear it has nothing to do with system synergy.

If you are adjusting the tonearm and hear no difference and you say it's hard to adjust a VPI uni pivot for azimuth.... Well I'll save the insult here since you already stated that you have forgotten more about audio than the rest of us ever knew.

Listen to jcarr. He will bend over backwards to help you.
I know from personal experience.

Not that you deserve it but I'll give you the contact again in case you forgot already.


Apatrick@audioquest.com



Well Jeff it's a good thing I have the 10.5i Uni Pivot on my Super Prime Scout as well as the 10 inch 3D Reference Gimbaled on the way. (Ordered June 30 right before the price hike).

We'll see which arm my Lyra Kleos likes best.

BTW, reach out to Alasdair yet or are you still enjoying all the attention you're getting?
But will he come back to this thread and apologize to Mr. Carr for throwing a tantrum like a middle school girl....

I guess we'll see
Flembo, I’m also running a Kleos on a VPI into a Chinook.

I completely agree with your assessment.

The difference being I run the Chinook @47k using a Bob’s Devices Sky 30 SUT.
Bob personally recommended that one based on my equipment and cabling.

If any thing I feel the dynamics improved a step further and the advantage of lower noise, due to reducing the gain to 40db, well that just let more of the music shine through.
Quite passages quieter ect...

Im running the metal uni pivot right now with a 3d reference gimbaled on the way. It was suggested that, the better damped arm will further improve all aspects of the Kleos.

I guess we’ll see