Lyra Delos Stylus Replacement Options

My Q is really directed to members who own the Delos. What is the useful life of the stylus, 1500hrs to 2000hrs?? When the useful life of stylus is expended, what are the options for stylus or cantilever replacement and cost?

Well, Lyras have a very good quality control and they last very long when the usual care is done (correct setting, VTA, Antiskate, no maid cleaning the System). I used some for years, no idea about the hours but none went ever weak. Have contacts with the owners and they are still running strong. My Delos is from the 1. Series and it is like new.

I'm considering both the Zephyr and the Delos as my next cart for my VPI Classic 1. Currently running an Ortofon 2M Black. Not to take the conversation off course, but would you mind briefly sharing your experiences with both in a bit more detail?

In particular, would you say that one is "warmer/richer" than the other?

Chip, I think the Delos is a better sounding carty than the Zephyr from the perspective of bass slam, bass definition, transparency, imaging and ability to extract details out of the grooves. But having said that, the Zephyr is a very, very fine cartridge at its price point of $1K, which is $650 less than the Delos.

You asked about which carty is warmer/richer. I suppose the Zephyr wins out there, but only because the Delos possesses the attributes I listed above. Given the choice between just the two carties, I'd go for the Delos, at least based on my initial impressions of listening for 3 or 4 days.

Btw, I own the VPI Classic 2.5 (check my system description). Both cartridges are a good match with the Classic tonearm. When I tried the Ortofon 2M Black several years ago, I didn't have much luck in setting it up. For some reason, I think it has a compliance factor of 22 or more, which makes it a tough match with the VPI tonearm. The VPI is really best suited for low and medium compliance carties.

What's with the "carty" thing. Is it like "vinyls"?

My Delos, which I sold recently as part of downsizing, had about 1000 hours and still sounded like new. I think with the Lyra's it's easy to expect 2000 hours. I had two Lyras before the Delos and they both lasted 3-4 years which for me is about 2000 hours. JCarr has said in the past you can retip his cartridges at Soundsmith or other places and it might sound good but it won't sound like the cartridge that you used to have..