Lyra Kleos Repair


My sweater got hung on the stylus and I bent the cantilever on my Kleos,  It will play through both channels, but it's very distorted and sounds nasty.   Has anyone had repairs done on newer Lyra, and who should do it?


Thanks

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(If you can’t afford Lamborghini maintenance, perhaps, having one in the garage, and worse yet, one on the road, is a bad idea. Not being happy with the repair bill is only human. Taking it to a fiat dealer is sheer madness.)

IMHO Fiat would make the Lamborghini more reliable
Mdb, it's too bad we couldn't have J. Carr weigh in here with a proper explanation as he has been very forthright and most revealing in the past on A'gon about many things analogue and Lyra.

As I understand it, when replacing a cantilever, you wind up completely rebuilding and tuning the suspension in place, unlike "retipping" which which is merely refitting a stone. The only thing saved is the base housing and the rare earth magnets, though still of value, most of the value lies in the craftsmanship and time. A highly practiced and skilled builder, under a microscope, must rewind the moving coil (thinner than a human hair), and solder in, precisely and tune the whole assembly in place. You wind up getting a new cantilever/stylus (which in a Lyra is custom cut and polished as I understand it, not off the shelf like many, many high end carts), suspension former, hand wound coil, and the dust close out sheet. All this must be tweeked to perfection by a craftsman who understands the results, not a trainee from Walmart or a backyard mechanic. It is a tedious, precision task. 

So I think it is unfair to color this as some have, and underrate what you get for what you pay. Some have brought up the point that there are others that will make a functional facsimile of a MC cart for a hell of a lot less. This will always be the case. I would argue, if it sounded like a Lyra, but it doesn't, than buy it. (Caveat: there are a lot of nice sounding carts in the world, pick your flavor) A customer must decide for themselves what makes sense, and what satisfies their needs. I can't speak for someone's ears or decide with their wallet, but I certainly can with mine. This is a hobby or pastime of discriminating taste, and nuance, and for me, Lyra has proven a level of excellence that is rare these days, rare has a price. 
So just an update for everyone, I got my 2 cartridges back from Andy Kim at the needle clinic.  He wasn't cheaper, it was actually more expensive than Soundsmith.  He quoted me $500 USD for the Delos and $400 for the Benz for what I thought was going to be just a stylus on the Delos and a cantilever and stylus on the Benz.  I went with it anyway because of the quick turnaround.  Well I should have been more patient and gone with Soundsmith.  Firstly it looks like the Delos had a cantilever and stylus put on contrary to my instructions.  Second, one channel is not working at all now.  Thirdly, the Benz is now out of phase.  Fourthly after messing with the Benz for about 2 hours trying to get the phase right and listening, it looks like the suspension is collapsing.  I'm pretty upset to say the least.  
Andy's initial response was "it must be a problem with my system" with regards to the Delos and nothing with regards to the Benz. Then he suggested I measure the Delos with on ohmeter.  I thought I read somewhere that if you do that you can fry the coils?  Now he is saying for me to send them back and IF there is something wrong he will fix it and refund my shipping.  Trouble is I've lost all faith in the guy, what if he broke the Delos beyond repair?  I'm leaning toward trying to recoup my money and sending to Soundsmith.
What are you guys thinking would be the best route?  Heads up I have a very busy weekend so may not be to quick to respond.
Sorry.  I won my PayPal dispute against him, but it was only for what I had to pay to get my cartridges back, not the $1K in destroyed property he subsequently kept.  I can send you endless email chains of him trying to get me to pay for work I explicitly forbid from the beginning, how I don't know anything because I think the boron pipe cantilever he shattered (x2) is far superior to his replacements, etc. 

This is is the fourth time people have reported him doing different work than agreed or doing unauthorized work. The first three were private correspondence to me after I published the issues I had.  

I'd run.