LYRA DELOS CARTRIDGE TOO BRIGHT, THIN AND SHRILL SOUNDING

What $500 MM cartridges?

The question addressed to another person, but in my opinion there are many. 

Those moving magnet carts in NOS condition with genuine Stereohedron styli are not even the top models, but they are better than many MC cartridges:



1) Stanton 881s or mk2 version
2) Pickering XSV/3000 and XSV/4000



If you ask for the cheapest possible superb MM for about $350-750 the Stanton/Pickering have so many followers who can swear those Stereohedron models are great and much better (in terms of price/quality) than most of the new MM in this price.



I can also add Sony XL-50 with Boron Pipe cantilever as a great sleeper, I bought a few NOS samples over the years and compared this model to much more expensive MC carts in my system.



With $700 - 2000 budget the list of amazing MM or MI cartridges is much bigger and very few LOMC can compete with them.

I would be more interested in a cartridge I can actually buy.

Then buy "what you can actually buy".

I bought all the cartridges online, not only those I have mentioned (they are easy to find), but even much more rare ones for my collection of the best cartridges.

You don’t know that JICO made styli for discontinued cartridges too (even S.A.S. for some vintage MM models) ?

You don’t know all those new carts like Grado, SoundSmith, Audio-Technica, Nagaoka, Garrott, Goldring, Ortofon that you can buy almost everywhere (including models for $500) ?

This thread is a good demonstration of the different preferences, some people prefer cheaper MC to more expensive MC, some people prefer MM or MI to many cheap MC, some people just search for the ultimate cartridges in mint condition (or NOS) from the past in every category (MC, MM, MI).

But some people are too lazy to search and discover things, they want others to tell them what to do and what to buy, but it’s not necessary a good advice, often their mentors have nothing to compare those new carts to. Experience is a good thing (not the price) !

I have a Lyra Kleos and have used a Hana ML in the past. There is no doubt by comparison the Lyra provides a more hifi presentation while the Hana is more neutral. I now go back and forth between my Shelter 7000 and Lyra Kleos depending on whether I’m in the mood for a relaxed or hifi presentation. Essentially the Shelter does jazz, acoustic, and vocals better and the Lyra is killer with rock music.

With all of the opinions voiced so far on the Lyra sound, I have not seen any mention of the Tonearm or Turntable used along with the ancillary upstream gear. Surely the cartridge, tonearm, tonearm cable, phono cable and the table have a lot to do with the SQ result? ( along with the set up of the cartridge...which as I already mentioned, is more crucial with the Lyra than just about any other cartridge in my experience!)

IME, the Hana’s are less resolved, less extended at both ends of the frequency spectrum and generally a lot warmer sounding than the Lyra’s. If that is what one is seeking in their music reproduction, nothing wrong, but overall I do think they are a very limited sounding cartridge compared to the Lyra’s.