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Lyra Delos - Dirt Build up on the cantilever

Hi folks, hoping that someone (Jonathan ? :-) may be able to shed some lights on my problem. I am a long time user of Lyra cartridges and love their sound. I bought my first Argo i back in 2008 from Acoustic Sounds. that cartridge has served me well to this date. Then on Oct 2014 I decided to buy the Delos since I read excellent reviews of it and its comparison to the Argo i. I bought my Delos from HiFi Heaven. for the first couple of years the sound was excellent and all that I expected. then around 3 mounters ago i noticed mistracking  on some of the records. I have to mention that with both the Argo i & the Delos I re-check the settings once a year (these cartridges are very sensitive to correct settings). Also its worth a mention that I am extremely finicky with cleanliness of my records, the treatable set up and care of the cartridges. I never play a side before throughly cleaning the record and alway clean the stylus with the SPT liquid and brush only.
Then around a month go one day the arm just slide right across the record.
I immediately contacted HiFi Heaven and they said that they are no longer a Lyra dealer and suggested i contact the distributor, Audioquest. I did this and they offered to send my cartridge back to Lyra for examination and review. This they did. In the meantime I put back my Argo i and started enjoying music again. before doing that I examined the stylus and cantilever of the Argoi by a X60 magnifying glass and everything was perfect. this cartridge is currently installed on my Clearaudio Performance turntable.

The yesterday I received the result of Lyra examining my Delos which was:
 "Lyra have informed us that this cartridge is not eligible for service under warranty. Due to a build up of dirt, the cantilever is unable to move. An attempt to repair this would result in damage to the cartridge"

......and here is my frustration and confusion.  I have no doubt that Lyra have done a through job in the examination of my cartridge. However, I know that it is impossible for the dirt build up to be caused by me and my use. The Argo i after 9 years of service in my system, playing my records and being cared for by myself at all times is still performing well and the stylus and the cantilever are shinny and clean.

The Delos has had the same treatment and been in the same system and played the same records for much lesser of time (less than 500 hours in under 3 years).

To be honest I feel like I am being accused of something that I have not done. How could I cause such a level of dirt build up to prevent the movement of the cantilever on one cartridge and not the other one.

Any thoughts on this or similar circumstances will be appreciated.
 
    
mgolpoor
mgolpoor's avatar
mgolpoor OP
55 posts
 
Hi Cleeds:

Well to this date we are not certain what would have caused this type of condition.

For what is worth I alway sweep the record with Audioquest Carbon record brush before playing (BTW the new one is outstanding totally eliminating static and releasing the dirt particles). I then only use the hard brush that is supplied with the Delos as well as a softer brush that I have from the time I had an Audio Technica. about every 5-6 sides I use the Lyra SPT cleaner with its own brush. Although I have always been very careful I am going to be even more conservative in the use of SPT liquid and try not to touch the Cantilever at all. I am not at all heavy handed with cleaning, in the past 8 years I have only purchased 2 buttons of SPT. As I said in my original post I also have an Argo i which is playing perfectly.

I know you were probably looking for definite answers but I don't have that, However, hope this helps and if anyone thinks I am doing things wrongly feel free to let me and everyone else know ! 
jcarr
385 posts
 
Hi Cleeds, Hi mgolpoor :);
mgolpoor's unfortunate and unusual issue, was caused not by a buildup of dirt on the stylus, but because the narrow space between the cantilever and the front magnet carrier (which needs to be free in order for the cantilever to move), became clogged up with some kind of hard, solidified substance.
While a photo of the stylus wouldn't show the problem, looking at the cantilever from the front (into the cartridge) would reveal that the cantilever was no longer capable of moving.
The rest of the Delos (including the washi dust cover, which tends to pick up discolorations fairly easily and is thus a credible guide to how much and how carefully a Lyra has been used) was fairly clean, which suggests that mgolpoor's cleaning regime is pretty good.
'Tis a mystery...
cleeds
6,273 posts
 
@jcarr thanks for the explanation!
dover
2,353 posts
 
@jcarr 
When I was a dealer in the 80's we used Garrott Bros for cartridge servicing & upgrades.

"Gumming up cantilevers" were sometimes caused by excessive use of products like "stylast". Also received feedback from John & Brian that they often found small fragments of carbon hairs from brushes. Presumably these carbon hairs can become brittle as they age.

More recently I saw a cartridge completely gummed up with dark grey green sludge. Working backwards we found that the owners records when cleaned were generating similar effluent of grey green sludge -  we think it was coming off a graphite mat shedding onto the record surface. The stylus was effectively collecting the sludge off the record, so much so it wicked up the cantilever into the guts.      

mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,232 posts
 
When I first dove into TT ownership 10 years ago, it was all so daunting but the local dealer "Pete" was a great guy (if a bit exhausted with running the shop, and all the changes occurring in the once popular 2ch hobby) -- a lifelong analog guru, and extremely knowledgable/helpful to me as a young but loyal customer.

I vividly remember him showing me to use a long-bristle brush to also brush all the way up the cantilever (not just on the stylus), to where it goes through the hole in the front plate. He specifically mentioned that he’d seen cases of dust accumulation there, over time, affecting the cantilever’s ability to move properly. I was surprised with how relatively forceful & fast his brush movement was (on an old cart he had lying around), and at the small puff cloud of dust clearing out.

I see guys post pictures all the time of their carts with a grungy beard of dust and filth on that front plate -- it makes me cringe a bit! And in most of their cases, I'm sure the rest of their vinyl/stylus cleaning regimen is impeccable.
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