LYRA DELOS CARTRIDGE TOO BRIGHT, THIN AND SHRILL SOUNDING

I would say that it could be a setup factor or you could be experiencing a mismatch with your phonostage.

delos is what op described and also require quite substantial burn in like all mc.  and you need a warmer turntable and system to complement it well.. it's very open and sharp thus very picky to setup and system matching.  

very narrow margin of setting. the bad part about Lyra is that the diamond mounting is not gold standard. so need to magnify and check at least. 

jvc tonearm ua 7045 and TT 81 101 works extremely well with it.  which easy and cheap to buy. very analog. resolved. powerful and musical combo. 

hana VS Lyra is a totally opposite.. try soundsmith if somewhere in the middle of both. 

I have a Koetsu which is highly sensitive to setup. Suggest you check:
(1) VTA: try the cartridge tail down
(2) Azimuth: turn it a fraction of a degree and observe increase or decrease in distortion
(3) torque of mounting screws (I'm not kidding) with a torque screwdriver; uneven torque is worse than the wrong torque.

Good luck!

As has been stated above.

Set up, set up, set up...

Overhang, alignment, VTF, VTA, Azimuth, Anti Skate, mounting screws...

Until, all those have been done perfectly for your cartridge, and properly for how the diamond has been mounted to the cantilever, then you can't begin to deal with loading etc., or judge its sonic potential.

Has it indeed been perfectly set up?

I am interested in buying your Delos cartridge site unseen for $500 bucks. Happy to send payment via PayPal ASAP.