Lyra Helikon SL-Worth upgrade?

Put my in your book and have had a Clavis DC for over four years now and the silly thing will not wear out. It is in a Rockport Capella table and maybe it is the vacuum hold down or whatever that has kept it together all these years, but never got more than eight months out of a VdH.....Have two friends who have Helikons, but not the SL version and one of them replaced the Clavis DC with the Helikon and thought it was a nice improvement. The other friend had a Clearaudio Accurate and found the Helikon more to his liking.....They both run Rockport tables.

Rcump, had the same experience as you with the Grasshoppers.

Hey Detlof! I used the MC ONEs and had to have two or three of them as the rebuilds were not nearly as good as the originals and glad I tried the Clavis DC, which had no dynamics for about 4-500 hours, but came to life then and now just won't wear out.....I see Jonathan Carr and Stig Bjorn at the CES every year and they laugh about my four+ year old cartridge and shake their heads as this is some sort of record they allow......Sure don't like the way the cantilever sticks out of the new Helikon as sure as the world I'll break it off, but will probably just get one of the new SLs at the CES this next year......

I agree with Detlof and others about the Helikon, as I have been using it for more than 2 years, but I have heard that Lyra has just come out with an even better cartridge called the Titan. It's time to save up on lunch money!

Speaking of the new Titan I heard one on a S Yorke TT (not mine). THere WAS a Helikon there too, but that was hooked onto an Amazon/Morch combo.
What I can therefore say, is that the S Yorke/Titan had much better resolution in the mid-range and more extension, esp in the bass, especially in complicated orchestral passages (Mahler 8, to be precise).
The speed/pitch (PRaT if you prefer) was exquisite on both set-ups.
Oh yes, this doesn't answer the original question. Famaraca: little to add to the advice above, sorry. Assuming you're sporting a SME 4/5 arm or equivalent, go for the SL. The Clavis, good as it may be, doesn't match up to the SL.