Anyone using a Lyra Delos yet?

Actusreus...this is the combo I am considering. Great to hear you are liking what you are hearing. Would very much appreciate your feedback with a little bit more detail in terms of what you are hearing from this combo once you have logged in some hours on both the table and the cart. Also, did you get any additional tweaks with the Classic (periphery ring, HRX clamp, Valhalla wiring, wtc...)? Thx

Cmalak...Of course, no problem. I'd be happy to provide feedback. I'm also currently using a phono preamp loaner as my Camelot Tech Lancelot is back with the manufacturer to customize it a little more. So the system is not complete yet.

As far as additional tweaks, I did get the Valhalla wiring, which looks spectacular with the black oak finish and certainly contributes to the detail and transparency of the sound. I'm thinking of adding the clamp or the SDS possibly in the future.

Perhaps remind me in a little while should I forget to come back to this thread to provide a report.

Will do. Thanks again and congrats on the new analog setup.

Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for all the information regarding the Delos.
Just a question- how well do you think the Delos would work with the 47 Labs PhonoCube? It is a current amplifier and currently I am using it with my Dyna 17D3..It sounds great, but the gain is a little on the low side. The dyna has a 32Ohm internal impedance while the Delos is at 8.2, so I am thinking that it will work quite well...
Any thoughts?
Regards,
byron

Hi Smholl:

>What is the plan if something happens to Mishima and he is unable to build anymore cartridges? Does Lyra go belly-up?? I would think that a few more people would be trained to carry on the work of one man.<

That's a key reason why we brought Akiko Ishiyama into the picture. In the past we've tried to nurture a number of different apprentices, but after some time Mishima found cause to reject them. Mishima is very critical and picky about who he feels is worth working with (I'm not too different, so I usually understand his position). The exception has been Akiko.

She began by building MM cartridges (which are much easier to build than MCs) around the year 2000, and spent a few years honing her basic technique. After observing her build quality and consistency with MMs, I felt that it was worthwhile to get her working on MCs, under Mishima's tutelage. She started by working on the most basic stages of assembly for the Dorian*, and her steady improvement encouraged myself and Mishima to teach her more, and have her do increasingly difficult stages of assembly. She's now been involved with cartridge-building for about 10 years, perhaps 7 years of which have been with MCs, and her growth has been reassuring. She's now involved with the new Kleos, the Delos, and the Dorian. Maybe in another 5-10 years, she will become capable enough to entrust her with a complete MC cartridge.

But apprentices or no apprentices, our brand policy is that each and every piece that we make must be listened to and found worthy before it can be shipped (that's true of our amplification products as well as cartridges). That will always define the upper limit of our production capacity.

hth, jonathan carr

* Originally I planned for the Dorian to be assembled completely by an outside cartridge manufacturer (that has produced many MC and MM cartridges, mostly for OEM clients but with some models bearing its own brand). When we received the first batch of 50 completed cartridges, we tested them but found so many problems and performance irregularities that there was no point in continuing to do business with this manufacturer. Also, the chemicals and adhesives that they had used in their assembly process made it impossible for the defective cartridges to be reworked, and this production run became a total loss. I then changed plans to bring Akiko in as an apprentice, and as she learned more to have her gradually assume more of the work.